Voldemort's Daughter
by Tsubasa Kya
Summary: Inuyasha crossover. Harry has the distinct impression that Kagome is lying. Well, either she knows about Voldemort and lies about it, or she must be really stupid. Obviously she's not the latter. What's a hero to do? Kill her? Book 6 replacement KagoDraco
1. Harry Potter Who?

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha-sama" universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

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_Note: I have brought it back. This story was originally under my "sesshoumarulover713" penname and to this day remains incomplete. I believe I started writing it after book 5, but it was so long ago I don't remember. Anyway, I know it doesn't follow book 6! In conversation with my good friend feathergriffin, a discussion upon which we delved was the meaning of the HP/IY crossovers. Well, our conversation wasn't anywhere near what I just explained, but it has distracted you from the fact that I was apologizing for bringing this abomination of the written word back into the world of fan-dom, and that was my intention all along. To contradict the above: please enjoy this piece of fine craftsmanship. By the way, if you read this before, some things may or may not have changed. – TK

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**Chapter one: Harry Potter Who?**

"Number four, Privet Drive." The black haired girl muttered, twirling her wand in her hand absentmindedly. She looked at the surrounding area. It wasn't much to look at, but at least it was a fairly warm evening. "This is it."

She looked down at the hovering stack of luggage. Her black trunk was floating barely an inch from the ground, and atop the trunk was a small animal carrier from which a "mew" sound emitted. She bent to look in the gate of the carrier and poked her finger through the metal wires. A rough tongue licked her finger pad. "The woman abandoned me all those years ago," she whispered, dark blue eyes wandering helplessly back toward the house. "Now Professor Dumbledore wants me back here?"

"Yes, I do, Miss Higurashi." The girl jumped slightly at the suddenness of the Professor's voice. It was like he appeared out of nowhere, which—given thought to what he was—wasn't that out of place. Wizards did tend to apparate and disapparate from time to time.

Kagome pulled her sore finger from the grate of the carrier; it had gotten jammed when he startled her. "P-professor Dumbledore?" she stammered. It was pure luck that she didn't revert to speaking Japanese—her native tongue. England certainly wasn't her native land.

Everything about her screamed "foreign" from her narrowed, almond eyes to her tan skin, to her dangerously black hair with its blue tint when the sun hit it. She had tied her hair in a tight bun at the back of her head earlier on after learning that the journey she was to make wasn't the shortest one.

She stuck her hands in the sleeves of her haori, reminding herself of how one of her friends always sat. The memory made her a bit lonely when she thought about it. The haori was white, made of the finest of silks and had a sprinkling pattern of red cherry blossoms across the left shoulder. It wasn't tied shut with a sash and revealed a white blouse with embroidered green hems and a white skirt with a green stripe following the lower hem which reached halfway to her knees. White knee-high stockings and the same green colored shoes as on her skirt and blouse were on her feet. A short green tie went under the collar of the blouse and hung loosely on her chest. On the right breast of her blouse was an embroidered insignia: a wand held by a human hand, and a wand held by a dragon hand, crossing each other like an 'x'.

"Ah," Professor Dumbledore smiled and placed a gentle, comforting hand on her shoulder as if to ease away her fraying nerves. "No need to worry. I will take things from here."

As he strode up the driveway that led to Number four Privet Drive, he winked at her. She followed and the trunk with the carrier on top trailed behind her like a puppy at her heels. At the moment, it was close to eight-thirty. The family might have already eaten. Or maybe they hadn't…

"What if they're eating now?" Kagome gasped, appalled at the thought of interrupting the family's meal. Then again, what did she care?

"Do not worry, Miss Higurashi." Professor Dumbledore said again. "I will take things from here." The old man drug his fingers through his long beard. "Everything will be just fine." They reached the front door in what seemed like forever. He rapped the door-knock twice.

A thin, blond haired woman with more neck than was really needed answered the door. "May I help"—she trailed off almost instantly. Her eyes took in Professor Dumbledore and what he was wearing, then narrowed suspiciously. "We don't take kindly to _your_ kind." She hissed abruptly. Her eyes barely glanced at Kagome before she turned her nose up.

"Ah, Mrs. Dursley, my dear. I believe you must not remember me," Professor Dumbledore said.

"I do not associate myself with _your_ kind, so any recognition you may have of me would have just been a passing glance!" She looked scathingly at Kagome and said, "And _you_ would do better to forget any association with _his_ kind, before it's too late for you!"

Kagome pulled her hands out of the sleeves of the haori. She distractedly began twirling her wand in the fingers of her right hand. She bit her tongue to keep from lashing out at the woman; growing up with her friends at the Magic Academy in Japan had made her more in-tune to rebelling. Professor Dumbledore said he'd handle the situation, and a man of his stature could only be able to keep his promises.

"Ah, Mrs. Dursley," Professor Dumbledore chuckled, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. "I would have you meet Kagome—the orphan you left on a plane bound for Japan. Thankfully a caring family took her in, but when you adopt someone…" He glanced meaningfully around him; neighbors were poking their heads out of the curtains. "Perhaps we should take this inside?"

It was the threat that her neighbors would see Dumbledore and think odd of the Dursley family that got Mrs. Dursley to open the door. "Hurry, hurry. Get in, before they notice you, then." Mrs. Dursley urged. Professor Dumbledore entered the house, and then Kagome followed with her luggage pile trailing her still.

Mrs. Dursley closed the front door and ushered them through the entry hall and into the kitchen. "Who was it Pe"—the pudgy man at the table stopped abruptly and stood, knocking his chair over in the process. A fat boy sat taking up one entire side of the table; instantly upon the sight of Professor Dumbledore and Kagome he grabbed his butt cheeks and scrabbled out of the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" the man demanded of Professor Dumbledore. He looked from Mrs. Dursley to Professor Dumbledore to Kagome and back again, as if just looking would answer all the questions crashing around in his skull.

Mrs. Dursley frowned and looked at Professor Dumbledore. Kagome took the chance to look around the spotless kitchen. Her foster mother used to keep the kitchen as immaculate. Mrs. Dursley then whispered in the man's ear. His beady eyes went wide. "No. No, and _no_." the man said. "She is _not_ our problem."

Professor Dumbledore simply smiled. "Wouldn't it be such a shame if your neighbors found out you abandoned a child on a plane sixteen years ago?" It was a low blow, but it did the trick. The two adults sucked their cheeks in and silence reigned for a full minute before the man said, "Petunia?"

She nodded grimly and Professor Dumbledore smiled. He then sauntered out the door, leaving Kagome to twirl her wand in her fingers. "So…" Kagome said, drawing the word out. "My name's Kagome."

"No owls, no dressing like a… a…_strange creature_… We know you're not allowed to use your… your pointy stick either!" Mrs. Dursley said suddenly, as if the rules were more important than introductions. Who knows, Kagome thought, maybe they are?

Kagome looked at her wand with a frown. "Is that so?" she asked. "Well, I never knew that." She blinked at the purple look on the man's face. Why was he so angry? Didn't he know that anger was bad for the complexion? "Well, I best stop using it, eh?" she grinned ruefully, inviting them to share her joke, but they didn't smile.

Instead, they pierced her with daggers from their eyes. "Um, right then," she turned to her trunk and prodded it with her foot. "Right then, off you go." She told it. The trunk clunked to the kitchen floor with mewled protest from the inhabitant of the carrier.

"No saying the 'm' word. You will act like a normal person in this household!" Mrs. Dursley added.

The man, who Kagome assumed was Mr. Dursley as introductions seemed to be over before they began, said, "Follow me!"

Kagome watched him stalk out through another door to the kitchen before sighing. So, it would be just her to carry the trunk and her pet carrier. She'd entered into a real prize winning family, she was sure. If they made a prize for 'biggest jerks of the century'.

She struggled to drag her trunk across the kitchen floor while carrying the semi-heavy carrier. It wasn't too difficult—it only felt like she was ripping an arm out of the socket with each step she took. No magic? She thought. Who made up such a stupid rule? In Japan there wasn't a restraint against magic—not with demons and other mythical creatures a part of the populace.

The trunk groaned on the vinyl flooring, scraping at it. It certainly was a good thing the stairway Mr. Dursley was leading her to was just on the other end of the house. She was sweating by the time she was halfway there, and by the time she had reached the bottom, her haori was slipping from her shoulders. Sweat beaded down her face.

"Mr…Dursley…" she panted.

He interrupted her. "Up these stairs," he ordered, "down the hall. The door at the very end leads to the spiral case to the attic. That is where you will be!"

"Mr…Dursley…" she again panted, dropping the trunk. "If I can't use magic, won't you help me get my trunk up there?" It was just so heavy! If only she hadn't had five years worth of text books and uniforms and equipment from the Magic Academy and a lifetime of other things she thought was important inside the trunk…

Mr. Dursley gave her a look that spoke volumes of 'generosity'. He turned heel and stalked—everyone seemed to be stalking these days—away. Kagome hung her head and groaned. She sat on the edge of the trunk, breathing heavily, thinking of the faces of her friends from the Magic Academy. If things hadn't happened the way they did in the past week, she would at that moment be spending the last three weeks of vacation with Inuyasha-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama at their father's mansion.

She would have been arguing heartily with Inuyasha-sama and sneaking kisses from Sesshoumaru-sama when he least expected it. They didn't have a real relationship, of course, but she was the only one in the world who could sneak up on him while he was sleeping, using magic to hide her presence. She would straddle him and then kiss him.

She had _hoped_ that she would get him to kiss her back this summer, but now that hope was shattered into a thousand pieces. He was now only going to be an infatuation that she'd once had. "How depressing," she muttered in Japanese to her pet inside the carrier.

"Mew…" was the response.

She stood and said, "Okay, Kiyoshi… I suppose we have no choice but to climb these blasted steps, mm?" She carried the pet carrier up the stairs first and stuffed her wand in through the grate, then climbed back down to grab her trunk.

Straining and groaning, she got to the top of the stairs before her body registered the successful climb. Her foot tried to go up another step, but no step was there and that made her off balance. "Ugn!" she cried, releasing the trunk to try to catch her fall.

The demented crashing sound that followed her descent was not her landing on the floor but her trunk bouncing merrily right down each and every one of the steps to land with a thud on the landing below. The top burst open and her things went spewing everywhere.

"Ooh!" she moaned, rolling onto her back and just lying on the floor in the middle of the hardwood hallway floor on the upper level. "Two more staircases to go," she muttered cheerfully, "Keep up the good work, Kagome!" Once more she spoke her native tongue.

The loud crashing sound had woken him from a small nap. He peered out of his bedroom door to look and see what Dudley had tossed down the stairs this time. He wasn't expecting to see a girl. She was sprawled on the floor, constantly moaning sweetly, her skirt showing more of her thighs than she probably wanted for it to do.

Her uniform—as it could only be a uniform—wasn't one he recognized. Still, he crept out of his room so as not to alert Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon to his being out of his bedroom. They were angry at him because he'd said the 'm' word in front of Dudley and scared the living daylights out of the boy.

"Mew…" her pet Kiyoshi said in condolence to her misery.

"I know, you'd help if you could, but you can't because you're still too little." Kagome moaned as she sat up. She stood up and her skirt fell back into proper place. A glance at the bottom of the steps made her groan yet again and lean on the railing. "Oh no! I don't _need_ a lock… It'll _only_ serve to keep my _trunk_ from bursting open at the _worst_ possible moment. So no lock."

"You're fairly cheerful," toned a boy's voice from behind Kagome. Kagome nearly tripped down the stairs she was startled so much. What was it with people appearing so suddenly behind her? Did she have a sign on her back saying 'Sneak up on me, I'm easily startled'?

She whirled around, grip firm on the railing. "I'm an optimist," she said without conviction. Her eyes took in the boy as he looked at her. His hair was black and messy, and his eyes were green—or hazel maybe, the hallway was a little too dark to tell. He was tall and thin, though not as tall as Sesshoumaru-sama, and certainly not muscular like Sesshoumaru-sama. Then what he said registered in her mind.

"Can you understand Japanese?" she asked.

"No," he said. "You were speaking English though, so it doesn't matter."

Was I really? She wondered secretly, then looked at the landing at the bottom of the stairs where her trunk was. "I hadn't noticed." She felt another sigh overtake her and she trudged down the stairs, feeling like her feet were in quicksand. "What a disappointment."

The boy moved to the top of the stairs and then she guessed he saw her trunk in disarray and so he started following her down. "What's disappointing?" he wanted to know.

"You know; _that_."

"Oh…_that_." He frowned. "_That_ being the whole mess?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Among other things." Should have grabbed my wand from Kiyoshi's carrier, she thought. I've never let rules stop me before; I shouldn't really get into bad habits now. She righted her trunk and knelt on the floor, tossing things haphazardly into the trunk.

The boy began helping her, picking up things and setting them much more carefully into the trunk than she was doing. He looked with interest at her things—perhaps a little too interestedly as she pulled her a bra out of his fingers and tossed it into her trunk, blushing profusely.

Harry looked at a book cover, strangely bound in black and rather forbidding letters sprawled across the cover reading "Riron to Jitsuyoo no Abunai Chikara" in both Japanese kanji and in the Roman lettering. That didn't give any explanation of what the words meant, though, and Harry couldn't figure out what it was supposed to say.

The girl pulled the book from his fingers. "Thank you for your help." She said. The only book he'd seen in the whole trunk that he understood the title of was "English as a Second Language".

But there _were_ things that he had picked up that he understood. Things that he knew no true associate of Petunia and Vernon would have. It made him a bit wary of her. Considering Voldemort had it in for Harry's life, he wouldn't bet his life that Voldemort would not stoop so low as to send a cute, innocent looking girl after him.

The cauldron, the case of potions supplies, the scale, all of these couldn't just be coincidence. 'Oh it just happened to be in my trunk, I don't know how it got there,' he could imagine the lame excuse falling from those pretty lips. Sure, he was being pretty negative, considering he just met her and everything, but the fact remained that after five years of the old hisser trying to kill him, Harry had every right to be suspicious.

Then again, "What are you trying to attempt?" Harry wondered aloud as the girl climbed atop of the trunk cover and tried to stamp it down. The sight was almost amusing, with her jumping and her skirt flapping… He really needed a new line of thought.

Kagome managed to clip the broken latches into place and smiled. Her smile disappeared when she saw the stairs, however. If her friends were there, they'd all offer to carry her things up for her. Kouga-sama and Inuyasha-sama would do it simply to make the other one look bad. Sango wouldn't do it, but she'd glare at Miroku until he did. Sesshoumaru-sama…he was another story entirely. He wouldn't do it, simply saying she needed to be a thousand times stronger.

She balled her fist up. "Alright!" she thought aloud. "I'll do it for him, and he'll say I am strong and _smother_ me with kisses the next time I see him!" Kagome was determined to not lose touch with her friends—especially not Sesshoumaru-sama.

"Who is _he_?" the boy asked with suspicion in his eyes and voice. "Voldemort?" Though he couldn't picture why anyone would ever want to kiss Voldemort's ugly mug.

He was surprised when she didn't wince at the name. She gave him a confused look and said, "Who the heck is Vladimir?" She hadn't thought she spoke in English. She was so sure it was her native tongue…

"_Voldemort_," Harry corrected her. Yesterday if asked whether or not he'd ever have to correct someone on Voldemort's name, he would have laughed and said no. Of course, that was yesterday. "You know, evil bad guy? The antagonist to my story?"

Kagome thought hard about the name, but nothing came to mind. She'd never heard of it before in her life. Of course, she was on the other side of the world where bad guys were such a common theme that she never gave too much thought to the name. Although there _was_ that one crazy three-eyed guy who tried to use an enchanted sword to turn the world into walking zombie-creatures. That was just _such_ a mess.

"And who are _you_ that you're special enough to have an antagonist of your very own?" Kagome inquired, or half-whined. Too bad she couldn't pawn _her_ bad guy off on this boy. No, it might be frowned upon to give someone a hand-me-down antagonist-creature.

After all, years of work was put into the whole event in which the bad guy and the good guy have many scrapes and scuffles and close-calls on the good guy's part that when the final battle comes it is only too short to fulfill the vengeance boiling within the protagonist.

The boy's eyes went wide and his eyebrow's escaped into his hairline.

"You don't know who I am?" he asked her, so surprised he nearly fell onto the stairs. It was so weird meeting someone who was obviously a member of the wizard world yet didn't know his name. Didn't she pay attention to current events? Didn't the newspaper from wherever she was from tell her that he was Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived?

Now he was sounding conceited, even in his own mind. "Should I know?" she asked him.

He sighed exasperatedly and pushed his hair off his forehead. She looked at the scar as if trying to figure out what he meant by showing her. Then she pushed aside the white shirt and lifted her blouse. "I've got a nasty scar too." She said. He let his hair fall askew again and looked at her stomach. There was a scar on her stomach that extended to her left side and looked like a bite mark.

"What happened?" he asked.

She countered with her own question; "Where did you get your odd shaped scar?"

After a moment's pause, they responded almost at the same time and said the same thing: "A car accident." Harry thought, if she really doesn't know who I am, I don't see any reason to have her bow down to me like I'm some kind of god.

Kagome thought, Atarimae no Hito don't know of demons, and it's probably best I keep it that way. "Atarimae no Hito" was the term the Japanese used for "non-magic people" or "ordinary people".

It was at that choice moment that Mr. Dursley showed up again and he was livid. He looked from Kagome to Harry and back again as if by doing so, answers would pop out of his purple face. "You—Attic!" he growled, pointing from Kagome, then to the top of the stairs. He pointed at Harry. "You—Bed!"

Kagome bowed slightly to Mr. Dursley. "Yes, sir, right away sir!" she chirped. He looked dumbfounded for a moment, but seemed to realize—a little slow—that she was mocking him. She spread her arms wide in the direction of the stairs and said, "Ah, life with Atarimae no Hito! I foresee a very pleasant future in the coming weeks."

She turned to her trunk and kicked it. "Come on now, let us stop this dallying." The trunk sprang a few inches into the air and floated up the stairs. Now Harry was sure that this girl was a witch. He'd suspected it with all her paraphernalia in her trunk, but now he knew it.

Mr. Dursley actually raised his hand in anger. He cuffed Kagome, hard enough to make her fall into the stair rail. For a moment she was dizzy and her ear smarted fairly painful. Then, she glared at Mr. Dursley. _"We know you can't use your pointy-stick!"_ Mr. Dursley bellowed.

Kagome held up her hands. "Does it look to you like I have a wand?" There was nothing in her hands, and clearly nothing up her expansive sleeves.

Harry wasn't sure what exactly he should do in this situation. In normal circumstances, he would have been shocked by what had just occurred in front of him. He would have tried to do something to stop his uncle. But he didn't know what the heck was going on, or who this girl was, or in fact anything at all it seemed.

The trunk set itself down at the top of the stairs. Harry made his decision. "That's enough," he said to Mr. Dursley. He was surprised at how level his voice was. His uncle glared at him, and he just glared right back. Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and held it at his side. "Unless you want elephant ears."

"You can't use it!" Mr. Dursley sneered. Kagome was surprised. She hadn't thought that the boy was a wizard, but he was it seemed, very wizardy. Mr. Dursley was definitely Atarimae no Hito, though, of that she was sure.

Harry laughed bitterly. "I can't?" Still very sore from the loss of Sirius, Harry knew he would in fact use his wand. If it made him feel better, he would do it a thousand times. But it probably wouldn't, which was why he hadn't. There was no way to bring Sirius back.

"You'll be expelled from that blasted _school_." Mr. Dursley said, sounding very smug to the knowledge.

Kagome stood up, one hand pinching the bridge of her nose and the other gripping the stair rail. "Oh, you know, I won't be expelled though. I don't go to his school." She was so dizzy she felt like she'd fall back over again and there was a ringing sound in her head, like someone had struck a gong, or rang a really loud bell. Or maybe someone hit a tuning fork…

Mr. Dursley had nothing to say to that except, "You don't have a pointy-stick. I know you can't do magic without it."

"I can't?" Kagome released the bridge of her nose and pointed at Mr. Dursley with her finger, as if it were a wand. "Want to test that theory?"

Mr. Dursley was nothing, if not obstinate. He balled his fist and hit Kagome again. She yelped this time as she landed with a corner of the staircase in her back. "Quit yammering, and do as you're told!" he yelled.

Kagome couldn't focus her eyes. He'd hit her face that time. She could feel blood pooling in her mouth from a cut on her lip. Harry thought he saw a sparkle of pink on her chest, as if it burst from the inside of her blouse. Then there was nothing.

Except Mr. Dursley started coughing. His face was hastily turning blue and he scrabbled at some invisible force on his neck. Kagome gasped and reeled against the stairs. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an hour before she grabbed her neck. Harry was unnerved by his own lack of intervention. She pulled a strange necklace from her neck and dropped it. The instant it left contact with her, Mr. Dursley could breathe again and he staggered away.

"You're a… wizard…" Kagome breathed before slipping into unconsciousness. Harry couldn't understand it himself why she did so. He looked at the necklace she'd thrown away from her as if it were her attacker. It had black beads on it and what looked to be white teeth in a pattern. There was one jewel on the necklace, a round sphere. The jewel glowed pink, not just from the light hitting it, but it had a pink glow coming from it like it was a light of its own.

"You're a witch," he said to the unconscious girl.

_"Sesshoumaru-sama, where are you going?" she asked the older boy. Well, technically he was a dog-demon, but he was still male and still older than her. She followed him as he walked through the halls of the Magic Academy at night, though it was strictly prohibited to be out of one's house between the hours of midnight and six am. _

_But here they both were, out of their separate houses and in the Magic Academy itself. She looked at his back, watching with fascination as the long, silver strands swayed rhythmically with his steps. "Go back to bed, girl." He told her, scorn in his tone. _

_"But, Sesshoumaru-sama, I want to stay up with you." She giggled quietly, catching up to him and latching onto his arm. She looked up at the side of his face rather than watch where she was walking. The maroon stripes on his cheeks made her wonder if they would go away if she licked them. They wouldn't, though. _

_"You're nothing more than a fan-girl." He said, crushing her spirit. They had stopped walking but the world around them kept moving, like they were on a moving platform. He turned to look at her, and his features began shifting. His beautiful, cold golden eyes filled with a cold red glow and his emotionless face suddenly flared into one of malice. _

_"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, but she screamed as the world around them stopped moving. There was a bed behind her, and she was pushed onto it. "Help!" she cried, but no one came or heard. "Someone help!" she screamed again. The face was void of markings now, no longer that of the dog-demon she had a crush on but the face of her enemy._

_He tore at her clothes viciously, not caring that he caught her with his claws, leaving four deep gouges from the center of her chest and across her right breast. "They died in the name of the Dark Lord!" he cackled with glee. Her blouse was nothing but tatters by then, and he held her down on the bed with his hands on her wrists and bit her bra, tearing it off without caring that the taut fabric scraped at her skin. _

_"Go away!" she kicked and struggled against him. He laughed at her puny struggles. Her skirt was never a hindrance. He had no intention of touching it anyway, but to further humiliate her he tore it off her body and threw it away just a shred of cloth now. _

_"They wouldn't have had to die if you'd stopped struggling and followed the Dark Lord!"_

_"I HATE THE DARK LORD!" she screamed at him, tears falling from tortured eyes. "He's a _murderer_!"_

Kagome jolted upright in bed. "Murderer!" she cried and struggled to get out from beneath the weight of the blankets. She wanted to throw up. She couldn't figure out where she was. The room was too dark, and there was no moon to shine through the window. She could barely see the window was there by the way street-lamp light shone in.

She crossed the room and threw the window open. It didn't have a screen on it, for which she was grateful. She wouldn't have had patience with it if it did. She stuck her head out and—with every intention to throw up—did no such thing as vomiting. The air was cool enough to sooth her rebelling stomach.

But her shoulder burned. She placed a hand on it, expecting to feel blood there. There was nothing. Whatever it had been that the doctors at St. Mungo's had made her drink had healed the physical part of the wounds, but the psychological part was still there and it hurt like hell.

It was then that she realized she was crying. She was on the other side of the world from where her friends were. At that moment she should have been at Inutaishou-sama's home, sneaking through the halls to Sesshoumaru-sama's room. But that wasn't going to happen.

"I'll kill him," she said with venom. "If I ever see that…monster again, I'll kill him. And I'll bring him back to life just so I can kill him again and again." She leaned on the window sill, staring out at Privet Drive and the houses surrounding them.

Harry looked at the girl with half her body out the window. She'd been talking in her sleep. He'd listened as she spoke alternately Japanese and English. She'd spoken of the Dark Lord, who he could only assume was Voldemort. After all, how many Dark Lords could there be?

So either she was lying that she didn't know about Voldemort, or she was lying that she didn't know about Voldemort. Only two ways about it. But the question now was, was it Voldemort she wanted to kill? Was she a good guy or bad guy?

He sat in his desk chair, unable to sleep with the threat of Voldemort's influence possibly in his Aunt's house. He'd never seen Vernon so angry, not in all his life.

The next morning, Kagome woke in a bed that wasn't the most comfortable thing, but it was warm. She curled up against the pillow, thinking that everything had been a dream. Her bed at home was terribly uncomfortable, like there were a thousand pea balls under it. Her foster mother would open the door with a bright look on her face and say, "Come on, or you'll end up missing your ride to Inutaishou-sama's mansion!"

Then she would jump out of bed and hastily get dressed, toss her things into her trunk haphazardly, and realize she couldn't find her wand. She always had a tendency to lose that thing.

When a few minutes passed and no mother was forthcoming, she groaned and sat up. Her head smarted, and her lip felt puffy. The room she was in most definitely wasn't hers. It wasn't the one she used at Inutaishou-sama's house either. There was a plain looking bed and an even plainer desk and chair. A trunk was open on one side of the room, but it wasn't hers. It was filled with magic books, parchment scrolls, quills, potions equipment, and robes.

An owl cage was open on the plain dresser, but no owl was in sight. On the other side of the room, by the door, was her trunk and her pet carrier from which a hungry "mew" sound was coming.

She was alone in the room but for the fact that her Kiyoshi was in his carrier. Tossing the covers off, she got up and moved to the pet carrier. She opened the door and let the two-tails out. Kiyoshi was a demon; a twin-tails cat demon to be exact. He was the first of the litter of Kagome's friend Sango's twin-tails.

Completely black, save for two rings of fiery red on his tail and the fiery red flame markings in his fur on his feet, Kiyoshi was mostly fuzz still. She opened her trunk and dug around in it, trying to find her travel container for food for Kiyoshi. He preferred fresh meat and milk, but would settle for wet or dry cat food when they were traveling.

"Here we are," Kagome said and pulled the container out. She opened it and set it down for Kiyoshi. He would be thirsty too and probably had to go to the bathroom. Cat-demons were much more civil than regular cats, or at least tame ones were anyway. The tame ones would not pee indoors, and they didn't run away when they were outside. They attached themselves to their master.

When he got bigger, Kiyoshi would be able to transform, but right now he was too young.

Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened. She scrabbled inside the carrier for her wand and pointed it at the door. Sure, she was just a little bit paranoid, but it was to be expected; the past week had been terrible for her. It was a little hard not to be frightened when people came upon her unannounced.

The door opened completely and the boy standing there quirked one eyebrow at her, so much like Sesshoumaru-sama always did. He was about to take a bite of an apple. "Whoa. That's some shiner Uncle Vernon gave you," the boy said. "Don't worry, I don't attack people with apples."

She took a deep breath and lowered her wand. "Sorry… just a little…"

"Who are you anyway?" the boy asked.

"Oh," she blushed deeply before bowing much like Dobby the House elf always did, only her nose didn't touch the floor. "My name is Kagome Higurashi. I am, or was, adopted by the Dursley family sixteen years ago but they gave me up for adoption again—or at least, that's what I was told. What's your name?"

"Harry Potter."

Her eyes went wide. This is it, he thought. This is when she starts stammering about how he was 'so brave' to stand up to Voldemort when he was only a baby. She would join the worldwide Harry Potter fan-club, and faint at his feet. Well, not everyone did that, especially at his school, but it seemed a lot of the people he met on the street did that. "Potter?" she asked.

He nodded.

"You mean, like…" He nodded.

She smiled broadly. "Really?" He nodded.

"As in Potter Demon Industries?" He started to nod, but then stopped.

He said, "Wait a minute… I think we're on a different page here. In my story, there's never been a Potter Demon Industries. What is it?"

Kagome chuckled. "Well, PDI is a Japan based company. It's a company that produces weapons and armor for demons." Kagome sat in front of her trunk again and began shifting through it. "I'll show you." He saw her hand disappear into the trunk, then her arm. Really, it looked like her hand had just gone below the bottom of the trunk and through the floor. She probably had a spell on her trunk.

He sat at his desk. Until he could figure out if she was good or bad, he wouldn't be able to sleep. Thus was the reason for the cup of rather nasty coffee in his other hand. He set the coffee on his desk. His summer homework wasn't completed yet. He also had to continue on that.

"Oooh, where is that thing?" she asked, half her torso falling into the trunk. Now he knew there was a spell on it. That was probably why it was so heavy to drag into the room last night. He'd put her in his room after she passed out.

His eyes wandered to her bottom. The skirt was rather short, and when she bent like that, he could almost see her backside. He tilted his head slightly, then shook it. Really, he shouldn't be like that. It was just way too weird.

"Got it!" she said, then yelped and fell into the trunk. Instead of hearing a crash as he should have, he heard nothing, but a bright light emitted from the top of the trunk. Curious, he moved closer and peered inside. He could see down into the trunk, but all that was there were her things. She was no where to be seen.

But in the bottom of the trunk was something odd. It _looked_ like a door on the side of the trunk. Like a shoji door, and it was slid open. It was far down, probably nine or ten feet toward the bottom of the trunk, and didn't look large enough to just fall through since it was on the wall of the trunk. A cat might be able to fit through it, he thought.

Out of sheer curiosity, he set his apple on his bedside table and climbed down into the trunk. Once he'd reached the bottom, he was surprised because that cat sized door was now the size of a regular size door. "Huh?" he asked himself.

He walked toward the door and poked his head through. There were steps leading down to a well. Kagome sat on the lip of the well. He entered, walking down the steps. He'd never seen any place like this. What was it?

Kagome said in a low voice, "Don't speak."

Before he could ask why he shouldn't, she stood and he noticed she had a bow in her hands, an arrow knocked to the string. She took a deep breath and leveled the arrow at the open lip of the well. "It's hiding from me. Come on out, demon."

He opened his mouth to speak but then heard a low, hissing sound. A human head with fangs and six arms shot up out of the lip of the well, its body seeming impossibly long. From the bare chest, he guessed it—whatever it was—was female. It went to bite Kagome, but Harry reacted before he could think. He shoved her aside and instead the six arms enclosed on him. He felt jaws sink into his collar and the arms were squeezing him painfully enough to make him hear his bones popping.

"That was just plain foolish!" Kagome yelled, righting herself. She pulled the arrow back and shot the arrow at the demon's unending torso so that it wouldn't use Harry as a shield. Harry didn't respond. She imagined the pain of teeth latched to his shoulder was what kept him quiet, either that or he was biting his lip so he didn't scream.

The demon's torso erupted and the demon cried loudly. Its voice echoed out in the confines of the room. Harry remained silent; she wondered if he passed out or not. Did the demon have poisonous venom? She'd have to look at his wound later.

Kagome's next arrow was made purely of magical energy. The demon was having trouble staying up with a giant hole in its lower abdomen. "Let him go!" Kagome yelled. "Let him go and I'll be swift with your execution!"

"Eh, he he!" the demon cackled. "Naraku sends his _best_ regards!"

Kagome pulled the string back on her bow. "Tell me something I _don't_ know!" Kagome aimed for the demon's head. "Drop him!" the demon did not. "Three, two…" she released the arrow and the demon used Harry as a shield. "One." The arrow went through Harry with no residual effects on his body, but hit the demon square in the head. The demon's body started to crack and shatter as if suddenly turned to dust. Harry fell to the ground.

"Harry," she said as she knelt beside Harry. His eyes were in and out of focus, providing the point that he was most likely poisoned. She hadn't expected him to follow her when she'd fallen into her trunk. She'd seen the demon at the bottom, shifting through her things. It was searching for something, though how it got inside, she wasn't sure.

She pulled back the torn shirt collar. The bite itself wasn't all that deep. "Hang on, Harry!" she said and hurried out into her trunk. "Great, I went and got another person involved," she muttered. "I should really know better!"

Kagome shifted through her things for her first aid kit and then tromped back into the well-house. She poured Anti-Venom potion on his wound first, then bandaged the wound. His shirt was stained with blood so she just used the dagger from her first aid kit to cut it off.

After that, she made the boy drink the Anti-Venom Booster potion. Why did he shove her aside? It would have all been over with very quickly; she'd have shot her arrow directly into the demon's mouth and it would have crumbled neatly into the well and disappeared. Of course, he didn't know that. How nice of him to be concerned.

"What the…was that?" he asked, sounding delirious.

"It was a demon, sent after me by the Dark Lord's right hand man—er—demon… Naraku." She reached one hand under his neck and gently scooted so her knees were under his head, keeping his head elevated. "Sleep now…" He obeyed her command.

After that, it was a long struggle to get him out of the trunk. She managed it, and got him onto the bed in the room. She assumed this must be his room. His half-eaten apple was on the bedside table, along with her necklace.

She reached for the necklace, the Shikon no Tama on its protective rosary. Her burden and curse. She'd been born with the jewel inside her body, and a demon had used its teeth to rip it out. Unconsciously her hand went to her side. Five hundred years earlier, it was believed that Midoriko, assumed to be Kagome's ancestor, gave birth to the jewel by means of Dark Magic.

Midoriko's daughter then slew her mother and vowed to protect the jewel from those who would use it to do harm. Midoriko's daughter found a dry well and had her body burned inside it alive with the jewel before she could have children. They searched the charred remains thoroughly but there was no sign of the jewel.

Five hundred years later, Kagome was born into the curse when a demon much like the one she'd just destroyed sensed the jewel and bit it out of her. Up until then, Kagome had just been a normal girl going to the Magic Academy in Japan. She had demon friends and human friends and a major infatuation with one of her demon friend's half-brother.

Completely and totally unfair that she should have such a crush, but it was the truth. Not only that, but her relationship with Sesshoumaru-sama was a creation of her curse, so her crush was practically forbidden. Those little kisses that she wished he'd return were impossible.

With Harry situated in his bed, Kagome looked at Kiyoshi. He was curled up on top of his pet carrier, sleeping. She smiled at the cat demon before moving to explore her new home.

Later that day, Kagome drug her trunk and pet carrier up to the attic where Mr. and Mrs. Dursley wanted her originally. The door at the end of the hall led to a chamber smaller than a broom cupboard with an old, wrought iron staircase spiraling upward to a small metal landing. She found a door up there which she went through.

Through the door was cobwebs and boxes and stored items. There was a path through everything, but the path was overtaken by spiders. Her head reeled. She turned heel and made her way back down the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley had gone out that evening to go grocery shopping, but Dudley was playing games in his bedroom on his computer.

"I need help!" she gasped. He nearly broke his computer he was so startled. Well, it was about time someone else was startled witless. If he wasn't so large, he might have hidden under his desk. Fat prohibited that motion.

He backed his large girth into the corner of his room, holding his butt cheeks. His beady little eyes darted from side to side, sweeping the room for an escape. He was too large for the window. She was in the way of the door.

For once he thought ahead. She burst into his room saying 'I need help' not 'I'm going to hex you' so it wasn't too unlikely that she didn't have malice intent toward him…yet…

Hesitantly he asked, "What do you want?"

"Spiders!" she shuddered. "They're everywhere in the attic! I _hate_ bugs!"

"But they're not bugs," Dudley pointed out. "They're a part of genus arachnid or something like that." He thought that was how it was in his biology class…

"It's a bug if I say it's a bug!" Kagome whined. "Will you please kill the bugs up there? I'll do _anything_ to get rid of the bugs!"

That was when a smile crossed Dudley's face. "Anything?" She nodded, not looking at him, and shuddered at the thought of the spiders. "If I do this for you, you'll do anything I ask?" He puffed up his chest and released his butt cheeks. For a moment, he couldn't help but forget that she was a witch.

"Anything," she agreed.

It was an entire day later that Harry woke up. He was surprised because he was bare in his chest region except for the bandages that crossed his chest and covered his right shoulder. It hurt to move his arm. As he sat up, he stretched his arm and nearly fainted from the pain again. "What happened?" he wondered.

Glimpses of the event in the well-house came to him. "That wasn't a dream?" he wondered.

He looked around his room. The girl, Kagome's, trunk was not in his room, nor was her pet carrier. Stiffly he got up and pulled on a shirt. He could barely get his right arm through the hole, but since it was a Dudley-hand-me-down, he managed.

Hedwig had yet to come back. Harry had sent Hedwig off with a letter for Ron at The Burrow to inquire on the plans for the summer. Was Harry to go to Number 12 Grimmauld? So far he hadn't heard from them, and it made him bitter. They were probably having so much fun they hadn't thought of him.

"Okay," Petunia said, her voice firm. "I want you up in the attic. Don't even think about leaving it until I get back, and you leave my Duddy-kins alone too! Vernon's at work, unlike your kind who sits around all day waving pointy-sticks doing nothing."

"But we don't just do that." It was Kagome's voice protesting. Dudley's snickers were heard clearly. "We've got a lot of jobs. My foster mother was an Interrogator, and my foster grandfather was an Auror. My foster father worked in an extension of Gringotts. And I know lots of others with important jobs. Like Inutaishou-sama. He owns Potter Demon Industries and manufactures armor and weapons for"—she was cut off abruptly with a slap.

Harry peered in the kitchen through a crack in the door. Kagome was leaning against the kitchen table, holding her cheek. Petunia looked absolutely livid. Dudley was stuffing his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing aloud.

Kagome closed her eyes and a tear fell down her cheek. "I apologize." She said.

Harry pushed the kitchen door open. "You don't have to apologize." He said. "After all, what is there to apologize for?" Petunia glared at Harry, but he was unfazed by it. "_Our_ kind does a whole lot more than _her_ kind, who all sits on their bums getting fat. Dudley is a fine example of _her_ kind."

"That's not true either." Kagome said. She looked at Dudley, catching his eyes with hers. "What you are, is a fine example of prey for the blood sucking demons. And they're coming. Oh, they're coming." Dudley paled. "I was you, I'd lose some weight. Naraku would skin you, and you'd be too slow and weak to do anything but scream."

Petunia raised a hand again to slap Kagome for scaring Dudley. Harry was so sure that blow would connect, but Kagome raised her hand and blocked the blow. She grabbed Petunia's wrist and dug her nails in. She glared up into Petunia's eyes. "I don't have to be a Seer to know how you will cry out in agony when they pin you down and torture you. You hate our kind, but it is our kind that protects you from that fate. Ungrateful though you are, we keep you from the demons and the monsters that spook in the night."

Dudley stood from his seat at the table with difficulty because of his girth. Kagome was right; they did protect muggles from horrible fates. Petunia looked at her son as he muttered something. Kagome said, "You will have to speak louder than that to be heard."

"You owe me a favor," Dudley said. "I did that for you. Do something for me."

Dudley did something for Kagome? "What did you do for Kagome," Harry asked. It seemed so odd that Dudley would do something for a witch.

Kagome smiled ironically and released Petunia's wrist. Petunia stepped back a step, massaging the abused appendage. Kagome said, "What would I do? A spell?"

"Do not say the 's' word either!" Petunia said with fear.

"Or make a potion? No, that would not work. You are going to have to work at it. Eat vegetables and fish and fruits and exercise. When the spell or potion wore off, you'd just go back to being fat."

Kagome slid with liquid grace across the floor, her hand on Dudley's shoulder. "Or… perhaps a curse…" she chuckled lowly. "I could curse you." She spoke quietly, her lips brushing his ear, but the entire kitchen still heard her. "Oh, but that's right… your mummy doesn't want me doing _magic_. Pity…"

Kagome slid her hands over Dudley's shoulders. Harry was sure he was the only one who saw the jewel on her necklace glowing a bit brighter. Dudley said, "Help…" before his clothes began to look too big on him.

"Duddy!" Petunia gasped.

Harry darted for Kagome. Whatever force that had tried to strangle Uncle Vernon had been released when she took off the necklace. He pulled Kagome away from Dudley and she bumped his abused shoulder. He hissed, but grasped the necklace and took it off her. He watched as jolts of electricity shot off the necklace and attacked his hand. He dropped the item to the ground, his hand numbing. It had done that before when he'd carried it to place it on his bedside table.

"Oh, not again…" Kagome tried to keep her eyes open, but they drifted shut. "Must… not sleep…" she insisted. Her finger fisted in his shirt and she pulled her lower lip into her mouth, biting on it. Slowly she opened her eyes, only slightly more alert. "I need… my guardian…"

"Who is it?" Harry asked. "Who is it?" But Kagome couldn't hear him. She was in and out of focus, and she was slipping away. He grasped her around the waist with his good arm. He remembered a name she'd said in her sleep. "Is it Sesshoumaru-sama? Is that the person?"

She didn't respond. She fell unconscious and he couldn't hold her up with his good arm so injured. He tried to kneel and place her on the ground as carefully as possible. He looked up at Dudley. The boy was much thinner and staring at his baggy sleeves as if they could give him answers to unasked questions.

Harry's eyes then went to Petunia. She was fretting over Dudley like he was a corpse. "You need to eat, Duddy!" she insisted. Wherever she had been about to go seemed to have vacated her mind.

Harry looked down at Kagome's sleeping face. Her lips were slightly parted, her eyebrows coming together. She was breathing heavily, like she was afraid. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she said over and over in her sleep.

An idea came to his mind. "Petunia! Dudley. We have to get her onto the couch in the living room." He couldn't do it himself with his injured shoulder.

Petunia scowled down at him. "Why should I help the whelp? She hurt my Duddy-kins!" She would refuse to her death, Harry knew.

Dudley insisted, "But I feel fine. I feel great, in fact!"

"Unconscious witches aren't people to insult, Petunia," Harry lied. "When they make orders in their sleep, you have to obey or they'll hex you and they won't ever know it to admit it. Right now she's saying, 'Put me on the couch' so you two will have to do it."

Petunia's hearing was more than it used to be. She rubbed her wrist and said, "She's saying that name you mentioned. Not a demand. And why don't _you_ do it?"

Harry swiftly evaded that point by saying, "She's speaking Japanese! _I_ took Japanese at Hogwarts last year"—greatest lie of the century—"and you didn't. I think I know what she's saying. And you have to do it because I have to get that enchanted item." There, now he didn't have to admit he was injured.

Dudley flexed his muscles. "Fine," Petunia said. "But when she wakes up, you two will remain in the attic." Like Cinderella when her boyfriend showed up, Harry thought. But he agreed to this.

_"Sesshoumaru-sama, why do you and Inuyasha-sama constantly fight?" She asked her guardian one night after sneaking into his room and kissing him awake. As usual, he had turned his head away from her lips, but didn't make her move from where she sat straddling his stomach. _

_He had his arms locked behind his head and stared up at the velvet canopy of his bed. As usual, he had a steely gaze for the ceiling. "I find it amusing to wail on him," was the simple response she received. It was so like him to say such. _

_She hit his arm lightly and glared at him as best as she could. He wasn't intimidated. "That's not a reason to hit him! He's your brother"—he corrected her, "Half," but she ignored his interruption—"and family shouldn't fight!"_

_"Fighting is a sign of love in demons," Sesshoumaru-sama said monotonously. _

_"Is it really, Sesshoumaru-sama?" She hadn't known that. _

_He chuckled. "No, but you believed me."_

_She threw her lower lip out in a pout and crossed her arms over her chest. How cruel of him to lie to her again, and make her believe the lie. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she whined. _

_"Inuyasha and Kouga fall for that. Go use it on them." Sesshoumaru-sama said, his eyes still on the canopy. _

_She leaned forward to rest her head on his shoulder, kissing his neck. "But _you_ are my guardian, not them." _

_His hands gripped her shoulder tightly. But that—somehow—felt wrong. He never, ever touched her before. She touched him, but he never touched her. She felt him laughing dangerously before his voice changed. He flipped her onto her back and pinned her down. The world spun and she was back in her bed instead of his. Her body was bare of covering and she was bleeding from four identical gashes on her breast. _

_"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she cried out, struggling to get away. _

_"He's not coming!" laughed the creature on top of her. "He's far too busy with my incarnations!" He dug one claw into her thigh and tore it toward her waist, creating a painful gash. She screamed. "Don't you want the pain to stop? Join the Dark Lord and it will!"_

_He paused in his torture to give her a moment to catch her breath. When she managed to do so, she glared at him with pain-struck eyes. "I will n-never! Your master will never have me, _or_ the"—she screamed yet again. He was digging his claws into her wrists. He reached for the rosary on her neck but it crackled with lightning and each bolt that hit him left a blackened piece of skin. _

_He dug his claws into the gashes on her chest instead. It felt like a thousand years before he let up again. "Join the Dark Lord for an end to the pain." _

_"Sesshoumaru-sama will come for me!" she screamed. _

_"The Dark Lord will spare his life," the creature's red eyes burned brightly, "and yours. An end to both of your suffering."_

_"Shut up!" She screamed as the pain of him widening the wounds worsened. A sword entered her vision; Sesshoumaru-sama had come as she had known he would. The sword slashed at her attacker; miasma splashed her body and burned her wounded flesh. _

_Sesshoumaru-sama pulled the two parts of the clay doll body off her and took off his haori. He wrapped it around her body. "Can you move?" he asked her. She could see he was injured now; his left arm was missing, cut off past the elbow. He was having difficulty helping her. _

_"Sesshoumaru-sama, please, tend your wounds." She said. "I-I can do this…" she struggled to sit up, unaware of the tears falling down her face. "We, we aren't suffering," she had to tell Sesshoumaru-sama. "Are we?" She needed to know. She needed assurance that despite their wounds, her curse didn't kill them. _

_But he didn't reassure her. His normally emotionless stare was bloody and his molten gold eyes were as hazy as hers. He said nothing, but his face was deathly pale underneath those splotches of blood. He fell into her, his bone armor digging into the wounds. For some reason, the blood didn't matter anymore. The pain didn't matter. _

_"Sesshoumaru-sama!" she cried and tried to wake him. He was drawing in ragged breaths—_

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" she jolted upright. This time she was on a couch in the Dursley's living room. She put her hand to her breast as the ghostly memory of pain grasped her until she wanted to throw up. She staggered off the couch, trying to get to a door, to a window, to anything that would lead her outside.

"Upstairs!" snapped the voice of Mrs. Dursley. "Both of you. Attic. Now."

She felt a guiding hand on her arm. "Come on, Kagome." Harry said. He pulled her up the steps and into the attic. There were boxes all over the place, but someone had done some serious cleaning, because there wasn't a spider or web in sight. Her trunk and pet carrier were by an old, moth eaten mattress. Her cat-creature was on a dingy old pillow. A scrappy blanket was on top of the bed.

Kagome fell onto the mattress. Harry noticed a small window on the other end of the attic. He went over to it and had to climb on boxes of storage items to get to it, but it opened up. The stuffy, dusty smell of the attic began to be replaced with fresh outside air.

He heard sobs; Kagome was crying. "Bastard…" she cried. "I'll kill you…"

Kagome had another nightmare that night, but Harry woke her from it before it could escalate this time. She was grateful for him waking her, but ungrateful for the interrogation she got immediately afterward.

"Who is Naraku and who is Sesshoumaru-sama?" Harry asked her, getting right to the point. He still had not yet been able to place Kagome in a category and it bothered him. He hadn't slept well because of it. He needed to know if Kagome was on his side or Voldemort's side. It was unfathomable that anyone couldn't take a side.

Kagome knew she owed this boy an explanation. She pointed to the Shikon no Tama, once more around her neck. "Naraku is the antagonist to my story," she said with a weary smile. "When I was born, I was cursed with the duty to protect this jewel from those who would use it negatively."

"Kind of like how Voldemort is the antagonist to my story," Harry said, able to relate to her a little bit. "What does the jewel do?"

Kagome grasped it in her fingers. "It will do whatever I want it to, and sometimes it does whatever _it_ wants to, using my body as a medium. It can amplify a person's power a hundred fold, but my guardian and I made this enchanted rosary so that people with ill intent cannot use it."

"Who is your guardian, and who is Sesshoumaru-sama?" Harry was amazed, yet at the same time not amazed, that such an enchanted item could exist. At some point, someone had such extreme magical powers that they could make such a jewel.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is my guardian. He protects me, and I protect the Shikon no Tama. I know he doesn't like it, but my curse is his curse." Kagome looked at Harry. "Please, don't tell anyone."

He smiled reassuringly. "Who would I tell? Aunt Petunia?"

They were quiet for a long time, giving Kagome plenty of time to brood in her thoughts. She didn't know if Sesshoumaru-sama was okay. She desperately wanted him to be. Professor Dumbledore was the one who had found Kagome at the top of the stairs in her bedroom with Sesshoumaru-sama, trying to bandage his wounds and stop the blood flow even while she staggered from loss of her own blood.

Sesshoumaru-sama had been taken to a special clinic for the care of demons, and she had been taken to St. Mungo's in England. She'd been patched up in practically no time at all. Professor Dumbledore had argued with Inutaishou-sama outside of Kagome's hospital room about what would happen to her. Inutaishou-sama said she should go with him, like the other orphans in his district of Japan.

In Japan, the demon lord reigning in the district took in orphaned children of magical origin.

Professor Dumbledore argued that rule didn't apply since technically she still had family: the Dursley's had adopted her first and though she was abandoned, she still belonged with them. Inutaishou-sama said something about splitting Kagome from her guardian during that time of the year being a very bad idea, but Professor Dumbledore was insistent and said they could further discuss things elsewhere, but a hospital was not the place.

When their stomachs started rumbling, they began talking again. "I'm hungry," Kagome said.

"I brought up some bread and cheese and a water jug while you were asleep. It's not much, but its all Aunt Petunia would let me have." Harry smiled and held out a fresh brick of cheese, a loaf of bread, and waved to the water jug.

Kagome tilted her head at the food for a moment. "Well, I can contribute to our meal of kings," she giggled. She crawled across the attic to her trunk and flipped the lid up. She dug around for a moment and pulled out a small chest. "It's a sweets chest!" she explained, setting it on the floor. "Inutaishou-sama gave it to me."

Harry felt his smile turn genuine. She flipped the lid up and reached in the small box, taking out two dessert plates upon which sat the strangest looking cookies—five on each plate. The cookies were small and had a strange papery taste, Harry soon found out. Kagome was quiet for a long time while they ate their 'meal of kings' as she called it.

Then she said, "Who is Volimore?"

"Voldemort," Harry corrected her. She blushed prettily and mumbled an apology that he waved off. "He's the antagonist to my story," he explained. "I'm surprised you don't know of him. He's the worst wizard out there."

"If he's so bad at wizardry, what makes him an antagonist?" Kagome inquired, taking a sip from the water jug. "Where I come from, if you are very bad at magic, you don't graduate from the Magic Academy."

Harry laughed. "Oh, that's not what I mean. I mean, he's just really dangerous because he's so good at magic and all that." How could he have made such a blunder? And why hadn't Ron or Hermione written? They said they'd try to get him for the summer… Though admittedly he wasn't too keen at going to 12 Grimmauld, knowing that Sirius wouldn't be there.

"Oh… Well, in Japan, evil creatures are so common that the King of Demons keeps a task force to battle the evil alongside the rest of the magical community. Don't you have that in England?"

"We've got the Ministry of Magic and…" Harry trailed off. "Well, we're trying, I guess." He had been about to tell her of the Order of the Phoenix, but he thought better of it. If she was a spy for Voldemort, she was doing a pretty good job at tricking him. Maybe he should contact Professor Dumbledore?

"Is it true we cannot use magic here?" Kagome asked suddenly after a pause.

Harry nodded. If anything, he couldn't wait for school to start again. He missed the big breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. He missed his friends, and heck he even missed those scuffles with Draco Malfoy, because at least then he could and did use magic. And then he didn't have to choke down cookies that tasted like paper. Didn't Kagome notice the horrible taste?

"I think that's silly," Kagome threw her lip out in a pout. "In Japan we don't have to refrain from doing it."

_That evening after the light had faded from the sole window in the attic, they heard noise at the base of the steps. It was Mr. Dursley. They watched from the landing at the top of the stairs as the purple-faced man installed not just one but three deadbolt locks on the door at the base of the steps. _

_Kagome smiled brightly. "He cannot expect to keep me inside with those."_

_Harry jammed his hands in his pockets. "But I think he does."_

_"Shame," Kagome giggled, "I'm partial to letting him have that delusion."_

_"They're scared of us." Harry told her. _

_What unnerved him most was what she said next: "Let them be." An eerie smile crossed her face. _

_When the moon rose to the highest point it would reach that night, Harry watched her stand up. She stretched and her strange uniform blouse lifted to show her belly and the bite scar. She reached to grab up the silk shirt with patterns of cherry blossoms on it and slid it on. _

_"Kiyo," she said, then muttered something he couldn't understand. The cat-creature looked at Harry with crimson eyes before looking like it was sighing and then getting off the pillow. Kiyoshi followed his owner through the door and down the wrought iron staircase. _

_Out of curiosity of what she would do, Harry followed. Aside from that, if the chance arose to get out of the attic, he had to admit he was hungry and he still had homework to do—said homework being in his bedroom. _

_She knelt at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed up her cat. After situating her cat on her shoulders where her cat wove into her long black strands, she put a hand on the door. He heard three clicks, one after another, each one as loud as the next. _

_But the door slid open instead of opening like a normal door. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see that at the base of her neck, the jewel was glowing again. Did that mean it was taking control of her again? _

_"Come out, come out," she whispered, stepping through the doorway. He followed her, glad his wand was in his pocket. Just in case, he took it out. _

_Instead of stepping into a darkened hallway in his Aunt's house, he found himself in a forest clearing with trees everywhere. The cat jumped from Kagome's shoulder and wandered away into the trees. Kagome stood there as the cat came back and then went back into the Dursley's house. _

_That was when Harry saw blood. It was dripping off of Kagome's hand and she was swaying. He caught her as she fell and the world spun. When she'd fallen, he saw Voldemort was aiming his wand at her, his eyes rather maniacal. Blood began soaking her clothes, turning white cloth to a dull red. When he touched her, he felt a wrenching pull on every part of his body. _

_He wasn't sure when he'd fallen, but he knew he felt his head hit the floor and his injured shoulder was jarred painfully. He heard a snap and rolled to look up. Voldemort had stepped on his wand and broken it. When had he dropped it?_

_"Send your incarnations out again. That blasted family of dogs is really getting on my nerves." Behind Voldemort was a shadow, features obscure. They disappeared and Voldemort stepped closer to Harry. Harry recoiled in disgust and fear as Voldemort knelt before him and touched his chin. _

_It was strange, but Harry would almost have thought that touch was a tender touch. As if Voldemort was capable of being tender! "Right now, Tsugunai," he said. "Where is she _right now_?"_

_Harry spoke, but he didn't know whose voice he spoke with. It wasn't his own. It was high, feminine, soprano—would be beautiful, but it was crackly from tortured screams. "I don't know who you're talking about!"_

_Voldemort laughed cruelly and waved to Kagome's body, only it wasn't Kagome anymore. It was someone who was not recognizable to him, bloody and with the stamp of death everywhere on them. "Come now, how many more will have to die before you understand? You cannot hide her, neither could he."_

Harry woke up, breathing heavily. He couldn't decide whether to hold his right shoulder or his scar; both hurt excruciatingly bad. Kagome slept fitfully next to him; they'd agreed to share the ragged mattress only because there really wasn't anywhere else to sleep. All the boxes of stored items were up here and only enough space had been cleared to put her trunk, the pet carrier, and to lay out the old mattress.

He lay back down on the ragged mattress, rubbing the back of his hand on his forehead. Kagome was on his left side; he could feel their arms touching because they were so close. Surely Aunt Petunia would calm down. They'd been up in the attic for more than a day.

A soft hooting sound, like an owl, came from above. He looked up; in the light of the moon, there was a tawny owl hopping irritably on a box. It had a rather awkward looking thing tied to its leg. He got up to find out what it was; it had Kagome's name on it with URGENT sprawled across the top. He took it from the owl and it took off back out the partially open window.

Turning the parcel over in his hands, he saw the crest for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the back. He would have to wait until morning to find out what it was. But he was very curious.

He propped it up against the boxes to the left of the sleeping girl and lay back down. If she wanted to murder him, she'd already had innumerable amounts of time to do it, so for now he supposed he was safe from her. "I just hope you don't work for Voldemort," Harry told the girl as she began muttering things about 'the Dark Lord' in her sleep.

It was difficult to explain his torn feelings; on the one hand he thought her too strange to work for Voldemort, and on the other he thought her ordinary enough to do so. He didn't get the feeling that she was like Draco Malfoy, or Voldemort, but he did feel like she had a dark secret that was more than dangerous.

He fell asleep once more to troubled thoughts, feeling much too like he'd been sleeping far too much lately.

When Kagome woke up the next morning, she found herself in something of a predicament. With the limited space on the very ragged mattress they were sharing, somehow during the night she'd ended up using Harry as a pillow, as he had so cruelly absconded of the entire ragged pillow himself.

It was just as well, she thought, that she was on his left side. The demon bite on his right shoulder hadn't healed properly yet. She did feel guilty about that, just a little bit, but it was his fault. She would have destroyed the demon right away if he hadn't shoved her aside in an attempt at chivalry.

Sesshoumaru-sama would be furious to know that she had let someone get involved. She paused that thought momentarily and then backtracked to adjust it. Sesshoumaru-sama actually wouldn't care that she'd gotten someone involved, because that someone was human and Sesshoumaru-sama hated humans. He despised them.

Still, in a vain attempt to save her vanity, she screamed and pushed Harry away from her. "AIYEE!" He didn't go very far what with the wall of boxes around them, but instead managed to upset one stack and the whole lot of boxes fell on them both. She couldn't let anyone touch her but her Sesshoumaru-sama, her guardian.

And that started their relationship on a good note, she thought.

They still were stuck up in the attic for the duration of their stay at the Dursleys, but at least they started to get along.

"What'd you do that for?" Harry asked, trying to get out from underneath a heavy box that pinned him to the floor. Technically they were on a mattress and not the floor directly, but it was so thin it might as well not be there.

"You attacked me!" Kagome answered irritably. "Here I am, fast asleep, when I wake up and you're hanging onto me like a bloody leech!" She kicked the boxes off of her. One of them went out the open attic door and onto the landing where it upended and fragile ornaments began falling down to smash musically on the floor below.

"Oh, bloody hell," Harry groaned, "I never did that!" Well, he couldn't exactly remember doing it, as he _was_ fast asleep. But he figured it was best to deny it anyway, just in case it were true and he had done it. Certainly that made a whole lot of sense in an abstract way.

Kagome brushed herself off. It had mostly been only light boxes that fell on her, though one of them had a particularly sharp corner and jammed her back. "You did too!" she argued, "Just because I'm a foreigner doesn't mean I'm stupid. I know a pervert when I see one, and you fall in the category quite nicely."

"A pervert?" Harry asked incredulously. "Let me get one thing straight! I'm _not_ a pervert!"

"Oh yes, you are." Kagome said.

"Oh no, I'm not." Harry said.

Their banter continued to grow louder and louder until Petunia screeched up the stairs that they were to clean up the broken ornaments and come down for breakfast. "And if you're not downstairs in five minutes, you'll go without!" Petunia shouted. Both witch and wizard hastened to do as bid, while glaring at the other.

After breakfast, Petunia said, "Harry, you can move your things to the attic now."

Dudley explained, "My friend will be coming over for the rest of the summer."

Harry had to spend the rest of the morning working in the attic then, moving things so that there was more room up there for his things on top of Kagome's things. He asked her to help, but her response was, "I don't make a habit of helping perverts."

So their relationship was off to a rather rocky start, if that.

He'd barely managed to clean out the last of his things from his room and move them to the attic before a much thinner Dudley showed up. Harry was in the hall, sweat strewn from all the work he'd been doing. "So," Dudley drawled. "Mum's out, dad's at work."

It was the same old tone of voice Dudley used to use before beating Harry up. Harry looked at his cousin and saw that Dudley had backup. "Go away, Duddy-kins," Harry scowled. Eerily, Dudley only smiled. "I'm not in the mood."

"But I only want to introduce you to my friends Greg Guise and Wallace Wern." He pointed over his shoulders with his thumbs. Greg was the tall, beefy, mindless type, much like Malfoy's cronies Crabbe and Goyle. Dudley seemed to always have friends like that, flat-faced, pug nosed, and able to follow orders without hesitation.

The other was short and skinny, almost frail looking. His clothes hung on his body like they were meant for someone else, or like they were hand-me-downs. He had an air of intelligence, unlike the other. Wallace held out his hand in greeting and stammered, "S-so nice t-to meet you, H-harry."

Dudley hit the extended hand and glared at Wallace. Feeling pity on Wallace, Harry stood straighter and said, "Good to meet you too."

"Mum said you're to stay in the attic while Wally and Greg are here."

Harry gave Dudley his best blank stare. "And if I don't?" he asked.

Dudley just smirked. He turned and started back down the stairs. Wallace looked from Harry, to the retreating Dudley in confusion. "Wallace!" Dudley called. Wallace stumbled after Dudley then, but he didn't look too happy to be going.

It was after midnight when Harry left Kagome alone in the attic. He had to shower, he said. It would only be about fifteen minutes. She didn't know why he bothered telling her where he was going. She went to start digging in her trunk for her sweets chest. She had hardly eaten all day. He had only been gone a minute or two when she heard footsteps on the landing to the attic.

"Forget something, pervert?" she asked. She kept digging when the door at the bottom of the trunk opened, sliding without aid. Demon! Her mind screamed. Two of them, in only a few days… Had she been found?

The footsteps continued and she saw her bow and quiver of arrows at the bottom of the trunk. She would have to climb in to reach them. Was Harry a demon?

Slowly, she turned, feeling panic rising in her chest. She saw a rat-like face, intelligent and frightening. It was like living her nightmares over as he slapped her. It reached for her neck, but black lightning attacked his hand and wouldn't let him grab the jewel he desired.

He instead pinned her to the ragged mattress. Kiyoshi hissed and scratched at the creature. He wouldn't be able to do more damage until he could transform. The creature simply grabbed Kiyoshi and bashed him into a box.

"KIYO!" Kagome cried, trying to reach into the pet carrier for her wand, forgetting completely everything her guardian had taught her about tapping magic without a wand. In a vague part of her mind she knew someone _should_ have heard that cry for help, and someone _should_ be coming to save her. But _should_ wouldn't save her life. _Doing_ would.

"I've noticed you're a lot easier to control like this. Free your hands and feet and you're confident." The creature laughed. "Naraku never said this would be so fun."

Kagome's blood ran cold at that name. "I'm so glad to amuse you!" she said as she struggled beneath him. She managed to nail his crotch with her knee and shove him off her as he gasped for breath. She grabbed up her wand, but he had already recovered. He grabbed her from behind and slashed claws down her backside.

As she screamed in pain, he took her wand and threw it aside. "Join the Dark Lord," the creature ordered.

"N-never," she gasped, eyes hazy from the pain. She could hear him licking the blood from his fingers; her blood. "Inutaishou-sama said I must keep a strong resolve, because if the Dark Lord got me, he would win."

Black lightning crackled; one of his hands was suspended over the jewel, the other steadying her waist so she didn't fall over. "The power to control canines, including canine-demons, certainly does make this bobble wanting."

"Get away from me," she breathed, frightened beyond belief but just barely able to keep her wits about her. "He must know that if I die, the jewel will disappear again for five hundred years."

"That certainly makes _you_ wanting…" the creature cackled. "Oh, it's glowing, just for me." He tried to touch it again, but the lightning turned to black flame and that flame consumed him. His scream echoed through the house, waking the sleeping residents, but all that was left behind was a pile of ashes on the rotting mattress.

"I can't stay here," Kagome gasped. She dug in her trunk for a cloak and tied it tight around her torso. It could catch the blood at least. She was in extreme pain, but she tossed the pet carrier into her trunk and slammed the lid shut. She kicked the trunk. "G, go." She ordered it. As it began slowly making its way down the spiral stairs, she carefully dug for her cat in the box.

In examining him, she found him with a bump on his side but she would have to find an animal caretaker to examine him more thoroughly. She cradled him carefully and trot after her trunk. She passed Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, both of who were confused and angered by the screams that woke them.

She passed Greg Guise and Dudley who looked irritated that their game had been interrupted. Down the stairs she went to the first floor. Harry was just coming out of the bathroom, rubbing his head with a towel. He called out to her, to ask what was wrong. She exited Number four Privet Drive without looking back.

They found me, she thought. The Dark Lord and Naraku found me, and Sesshoumaru-sama is injured because of me. He cannot protect me. All I can do is run, _run, run._

But Harry raced after her. He'd seen the blood dripping from her body. Helplessly, he watched as a black hole opened up in the middle of the darkened street. "Kagome!" he called to her, but her trunk had gone through, and she fell into it. He tried to follow, but it snapped shut.

Why did he race after her? She could be anyone, could be working for Voldemort as a spy… It wasn't unreasonable. The man had been known to use underhanded methods before.

Left over on the ground where she'd disappeared, he found a puddle of something wet. He bent to touch it, and came up with moist red blood. She had really been bleeding badly. Who _was_ Kagome Higurashi?

Back in the attic, he found her wand was on top of the stacks of boxes. No real witch would leave her wand behind, would she? He remembered then what she had said to Uncle Vernon.

_"You don't have a pointy-stick. I know you can't do magic without it." _

_"I can't?" Kagome released the bridge of her nose and pointed at Mr. Dursley with her finger, as if it were a wand. "Want to test that theory?"_

He saw the pile of ash on the ragged mattress, the blood that seemed to be splattered in an arc, and the hole in one of the boxes of storage items. Something was beginning to unsettle in his stomach, and it certainly wasn't any form of constipation known to man. It was unease. Something was very wrong here.

* * *

**Please review! I won't know to continue this if no one tells me to, and if you've read other things by me, you know that the only reason I actually post on the web isn't because I enjoy writing - which I do - but for the reviews. If I just wanted to write for the pure pleasure, I wouldn't bother sharing. So review, please! **

**And please, please! Don't just say 'update'! Give me some sexy-crazy, but honest opinions for once! - TK**


	2. Kagome Higurashi Who?

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha-sama" universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

**Chapter two: Kagome Higurashi Who?**

The next morning found Harry toying with the wand that the foreign girl, Kagome, had left behind. It was odd, since he couldn't even get sparks to light out the end of it. Even though wands were supposed to pick their user, everyone knew that anyone could use someone else's. He was starting to think the wand wasn't actually real, and that kept bringing her threat to mind.

_"You don't have a pointy-stick. I know you can't do magic without it." _

_"I can't?" Kagome released the bridge of her nose and pointed at Mr. Dursley with her finger, as if it were a wand. "Want to test that theory?" _

Harry reluctantly turned to his homework. Now that his room was—unhappily—the attic, with only a tiny window to the outside world, he had plenty of time to do his work. Not that he didn't have that same time to do it before, but he hadn't actually gotten any work done during the span of time that Kagome was there and he really would have to work hard.

Especially on his potions homework. Harry glared at the page half-heartedly. And Hermione claimed that Snape wasn't actually out to get Harry? Well, he wouldn't have to if Harry flunked out of potions, since passing that class was the only way that Harry would get to be an Auror.

Still, sooner or later—he wasn't sure when—Harry fell asleep on the book he was studying out of.

-

The sewers were dark and terribly damp. Kagome's Magic Academy uniform wasn't something that could keep her very warm, but she was feverish and she so that helped to keep her warm. It didn't help her motivation to continue running; she wanted to just collapse in a heap.

In the above world, it was raining that day, so the sewers were flooding with water at every drain. Her back ached where the rat demon had clawed at her, and the cloak she tied around her was soaked with the red liquid that was intended to fuel her life.

She couldn't help but think if she were with her guardian, he would probably be pointing out the fact that she was such a weakling she couldn't even run away properly. She didn't even know how long she had been running, but the sewer finally ended in a giant culvert that came out under a bridge.

There was a thin body of water under the bridge, deep enough that she'd probably drown if she fell in. She could swim, but the fact that she was so tired and injured made her note that she probably wouldn't make it if she fell into the current. She sat down on her trunk, curling into a ball and tried forgetting about her back pain.

It was light on the outside. Day had risen, and she didn't know where to go or what to do. She was in a strange country and extremely far away from her guardian and her friends. In front of her, she saw her guardian. Gold eyes stared down at her for a moment before he turned and started walking away. It was the fever talking to her. That was the only explanation.

-

"Hedwig!" Harry called in excitement as his owl flew in through the open window. Hedwig was Harry's faithful snow owl and he had missed her quite a bit. But even more exciting was the letter she carried for him. He took it from her, opening it to read it, and then began stroking Hedwig lovingly as she perched on his knee.

_Dear Harry- _

_It's good to hear from you, mate. Sorry about not coming to get you this Summer, but there's been a lot going on. Mum's got me and Ginny doing all the cooking and cleaning and everything at home this Summer and the only break we've had was today. That's why it's taken so long to get back to you. _

_But we had some excitement this Summer. I can't wait to tell you all about it. Mum says to keep quiet about it though. And I heard that Dumbledore got some new people for Defense of the Dark Arts class, too. It's supposed to be real exciting! _

_But at least my Summer isn't going as bad as Hermione's is, apparently. Did you know her parents moved to France? Hermione was going to transfer to Beaubaxtons! Without informing us! I only know because Hermione wrote to Ginny, and I stole the letter from Ginny. Can you believe her? Well, since the start of school is only a few weeks away, Hermione's on her way to stay with us. _

_And let me tell you, she's gonna get a mouthful. I'll even tell her off for you too, so that you don't have to later on. Anyway, mum and Ginny and dad say hi. I'll talk to you in a few weeks at school if not sooner. _

_Your friend, Ron Weasley. _

While it was nice to hear from Ron again, at the same time it wasn't. Secluded from the wizarding world, Harry always felt like he drifted away from his friends during the Summer. He sighed and set the letter down, then carefully lifted Hedwig, putting her in her cage. He filled her water tray from a bottle and gave her some owl treats. That was not mentioning the fact that he was always the last to have news, since no one could talk about anything.

With Hedwig contentedly in her cage, Harry looked around the attic again and proceeded to clean it up some more. It was perplexing to him that Dudley's friend Wally had disappeared—the rat faced, skinny one. But Dudley said Wally had gone home earlier than planned, and left it at that. He wouldn't even mention Kagome, or how she had been there and seemingly cursed him. "What do you think, Hedwig?" Harry asked the owl, right as Petunia shrieked up the stairs for him.

He sighed and made his way down the stairs to find a welcoming party in his kitchen. "Fred! George!" he grinned broadly. Petunia was holding up rather well with two adult wizards in her house. And Dudley—sitting with Greg at the table—hadn't run away yet, so that was a start.

"Actually, mate, he's George, remember?" Fred said, grinning.

"I said it all in context, not speaking to either of you in specific, so there," Harry said.

George said, "Well, mate, if it's alright, we're going to take you with us for the rest of the Summer." He looked a lot buffer with his green dragon's hide vest on, and so did Fred. But they weren't wearing wizard robes, so Petunia might've thought they were just some hoodlums; or at least, if they didn't associate with Harry, she might've.

"Cool, my stuff's in the attic. I'd come." Petunia rose no argument, probably grateful. Harry led the way to the attic, and Harry felt very pleased to finally be able to go somewhere this Summer. He was promised, but nothing had come of it. And Ron Weasley's older twin brothers Fred and George Weasley were fun to hang around. They were natural tricksters, and had bailed out of school in Harry's fifth year so they could open a joke shop, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, using money that Harry had gotten after winning the Triwizard Tournament.

George asked, "Harry, is that a footprint staining the carpet?" Indeed, there was a brown-red stain of a footprint on the carpet with spatters around it. Kagome had left it there as she raced away. Petunia had spent several hours trying to clean it up so no one would ever know, but finally decided instead it would just be easier to remodel the entire living room.

"And your long-neck aunt lets it be there?" Fred asked incredulously.

Harry shrugged. "Wasn't _my_ foot that left it." He said simply and they made it to the attic. "Hedwig, look whose here!" Hedwig flew from her cage to land on George's arm.

"Hey, George, I got an idea. What about candy that transfigures people into owls for a period of time?" Fred said suddenly as Harry threw his things in his trunk. He might not get very far at all in the remainder of his homework.

"Good idea, brother Fred!" George said cheerfully. Then the boys started to look around and noticed the mess; the blood spattering the boxes in a heavy arc, the hole in the box, the moth eaten mattress. "Harry, you don't seriously live up here, do you?" he asked.

"Is that blood?" Fred asked.

"Don't worry about it," Harry grumbled. He would rather not talk about it. Or have the subject broached. Ever. Thinking of Kagome gave him a migraine, since it was purely impossible to tell just whether or not she was really a good or a bad guy.

"You can't honestly think we won't worry!" George said. "Come on, you're our hero, and you've got a crazy antagonist after you who, might I remind you, wants you dead? Where were you injured?"

"I wasn't injured, okay? Some girl came here, and ran off like she was being chased by the dead." Harry grumbled. Now packed, he noticed Kagome's mail was underneath a screwed up box. He pulled it out, both his and Kagome's wands in his pocket. With a glance at it, he looked at Hedwig. What if Kagome wasn't evil?

"Harry, what's that?" Fred asked, peering over his shoulder. With three people in the already cramped attic, the atmosphere was almost stifling.

"That girl got mail from Hogwarts." Harry explained. He quietly called Hedwig over and the bird came willingly. "Will you take this to that girl, Hedwig? I don't know where she went." Hedwig stared at him for a moment before seeming to do the equivalent of what a shrug would be for birds. Harry sent her off with the envelope.

After that, George grabbed one end of the trunk to help Harry carry it down the stairs while Fred grabbed Hedwig's cage. Harry decided not to tell them very much about what little he knew of Kagome; especially of the strange creature that came out of her trunk and bit him before she killed it with a bow and magical arrow. His shoulder screamed in protest to carrying his heavy trunk but instead of complaining, he tried to ease up the pressure by taking most of the weight in his other arm.

"So, are we going to The Burrow?" Harry asked as they entered the kitchen. It seemed they'd spent enough time upstairs as Harry packed for Petunia to finish baking cookies. Harry assumed she must have been making them before the twins had come, because he was sure it didn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes upstairs.

Petunia wrapped a paper plate of cookies up in saran wrap and thrust it at Harry. She said nothing of why she'd done it, but George and Fred laughed. Fred took the cookies for Harry since his hands were preoccupied and saluted Petunia before leading Harry and George to the door, as if he'd lived in the house his entire life.

It was something about the twins that Harry admired. They could adjust to anything, and fit in almost anywhere. Petunia said just as Harry was passing through the door, "Thanks for getting rid of the brat." She sounded cheerful. Then the door was shut and the three wizards were staring at the wood, all of them not sure what was going on.

"Well, Diagon Alley's waiting," Fred said.

George nodded, and Harry only followed, trying to puzzle out Petunia's words. Did she think Harry got rid of Kagome? Fred led the way to a muggle car and Harry wondered if it had the same 'extra features' that the last car the twins drove had.

-

Once night had fallen again, Kagome found she was too wet and cold to stay curled up in the sewers. Her demon cat had woken up and other than a limp and that he was wet and shivering, he appeared unhurt. She gathered Kiyoshi up again and kicked her trunk into movement. She had to keep moving. Demons were after her, and unfortunately she was a perfect target with the 'homing beacon' around her neck.

She knew she was sick, but she forced herself to move. She set Kiyoshi down as she opened her trunk for clean clothes and some towels to rub herself and her cat as dry as possible. Before tending to herself, she dried Kiyoshi and found his carrier in her trunk so she could put him in it. He didn't like being in it, but he didn't complain. As usual, he knew something important was going on, and he was grateful at any rate for the plush comfort of the pillows lining the bottom of the carrier and knew he would be warmer there than against his wet mistress.

Once Kiyoshi was settled, she peeled the cloak from her injured back, nearly crying out loud when the wounds—dried blood plastering cloth to skin—ripped open. Tending the wounds was nearly impossible since she couldn't get to her back, but she did her best with what she had. She used sterile bandages to wrap it as best as she could. She changed into a clean, dry uniform the same as before. The uniform from the Magic Academy didn't help with keeping her warm, but she found her guardian's haori and pulled it on.

She wasn't going to allow herself die of sickness or from an attack in a lonely sewer. She carefully exited the sewer, following the short walkway to crest the small hill with her pet carrier in one hand and her trunk following dutifully behind her. Minutes later she found herself looking at a street nearly abandoned in the darkest evening hours.

A few people were out and about, but none of them looked at the strange girl who appeared from under the bridge. Once on the sidewalk, she set Kiyoshi's carrier down and went into her trunk for her bow. Summoning a taxi-service required a wand, generally, but she could bypass that with a PDI-made weapon. Her bow could double as a wand if someone knew how to use its' refined magical properties.

A couple passing by saw her climbing out from the trunk, and to them, it looked like she was climbing from beneath the ground. They stared at her in confusion as she slammed the trunk lid shut and put her unreliable latches into place. She set Kiyoshi's carrier on the hovering trunk, the night's shadows beneath it making the trunk look like it was on the ground.

Sparing the obvious Atarimae no Hito couple a small glance, she held the bow in her right hand and held it out. Generally she held the bow in her left hand and guided the arrow with her right, but in this case the bow needed to be in her right to summon the taxi-service. The couple shook their heads in confusion before taking to the continuation of their stroll.

With a loud crack that the peaceful Atarimae no Hito didn't hear, a large triple-deck bus came to a screeching halt a few feet past where Kagome was standing. A chipper young man bounded off the bus and greeted Kagome; she was beginning to wonder if her life would ever be sane again, or how much longer she'd be able to stand up.

She walked forward to glance at this chipper young man, seeing between two and four of him alternately, yet knowing that one to three of him didn't exist. "How much is your taxi-service?" she inquired.

The man's nametag became visible in the light flowing out of the windows of the bus. "Stan," it read. He gave her a speculative glance, seeming to take note of her uniform. "Long way from home?" he asked, surprisingly enough speaking her native tongue. She supposed it was a spell or something, that allowed him to speak every language to better service the patrons.

She nodded. " Japan," she said. She was unaware she had been speaking her native tongue to begin with. She was too tired to care either way. "How much?"

"Depends really on where you want to go. Would you pay in English currency, or Japanese currency?"

Kagome shook her head, "Japanese, if you accept." She needed to sit. Her legs were going to fail her; she had lost so much blood. "I need the closest Gringotts, so I can change my currency from my home's coins to England's. I'll need to purchase clothes, and also a place to sleep; best if all these are in the same general vicinity."

"Ok, not a problem." There wasn't much difference between any country's coin system. Each language called it something different, such as a Galleon in comparison to a Horikui. The price value was the same, but the coins had different faces, so some places would not accept currency from another country even if the value was the same coin versus coin.

Stan climbed onto the bus again and she had to go into her trunk again to take out her coin purse. She hadn't had a chance to go to Gringotts before she was whisked away to St. Mungo's, so the purse was getting to be a little on the empty side. When Stan had come back, she had it ready and was leaning on her unstrung bow-staff. The coiled bow string was wrapped in an oiled cloth still in her trunk, as keeping it strung constantly was bad for the staff.

Stan gave her a sum that it would cost her and she counted out the money. He compared each coin to a magical chart that told him she didn't try to cheat him in his ignorance. Standard procedure, she figured. Once he was satisfied that she gave the correct amount, he offered to help with her trunk and carrier and she gratefully accepted.

"The best place you probably want to go," Stan said still speaking her tongue, "would be Diagon Alley. There's a pub that doubles as an inn. Shouldn't be difficult for a cute girl like you to have someone explain how to get into the alley either." He winked at her, but she was too ill to be embarrassed. She smiled weakly and followed him onto the bus. She was glad to see that there were beds on the bus.

She thanked Stan for his kindness, and he immediately settled himself in a seat by the driver. As the two began to talk, she noticed Stan's level of speaking was far worse in English than he'd spoken in Japanese. But she was asleep quickly, her pet carrier and trunk secured beneath her bed, and her bow-staff on the mattress beside her.

-

Harry was covered in mud and truly knew he had seen better days than that particular fateful day. Fred and George were having a blast with what had happened, cracking jokes at unreliable muggle technology. Harry wanted to tell him that the car they used to pick them up, though an old beater, wouldn't be unreliable if the two of them had ever thought that some sort of fossil fuel was required to _run_ the car.

Harry had _warned_ them that they needed to stop at a gas station to refuel, but they hadn't listened so now Fred, George, and Harry were pushing the car to the side of the road. Of course, about thirty minutes earlier it had decided to start raining, which meant on this particular back road to nowhere, a lot of mud was to be encountered.

But Harry did suppose it was better to be pushing the gasless beater than to be stuck in Aunt Petunia's house with Dudley and Greg. The boys had eaten Petunia's cookies hesitantly at first, at least until Fred did some sort of anti-poison spell. Hermione would have been proud of Fred.

Now, the three of them were sitting cold inside the car and wondering what to do next. Their little non-magical rescue plan hadn't worked, proving the fact that at least these two wizards could not go without magic. Harry's broom wouldn't fit all three of them, even though they could apparate or disapparate. Even if it could, his invisibility cloak wouldn't hide his trunk and flying trunks were generally looked at oddly by muggles if seen.

"We could enchant the car to fly!" George said. It was the ninth time the idea had been thought of.

Harry repeated, for the ninth time, "There's no gas to get the car to speed so it has the momentum to pick up off the ground with a simple flight spell," he'd been researching flight spells for an essay for Professor Flitwick this summer, "and none of us would be able to perform a more advanced flight spell to enchant it any other way. I don't particularly want to get kicked out of Hogwarts for doing magic either, and there're inconvenient laws against casting magic on muggle objects."

Fred said, for the ninth time in a shocked tone of voice, "Oh yeah. Doesn't dad work for that department of the ministry?"

Harry sighed and shivered from the cold. The twin's joking nature sometimes was more difficult to handle than normal because it was hard to tell whether they really were joking or not. Then he remembered about the Knight Bus. "What about the Knight Bus?" he asked, putting voice to his thoughts.

George exclaimed, "By George, I think he's got something there!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh, and Fred cackled. The two immediately started to get out of the car and Harry followed suit. They pulled his trunk out of the back seat with difficulty, slipping and sliding in the mud and getting wetter than they had been. Finally they got it out and Fred and George held it between them in a vain attempt to keep it free of mud. Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage and checked to make sure Dudley's massive hand-me-down pants pockets still held both his and Kagome's wands.

He took his wand out, and in unison the three wizards held out their wand hands, with their wands pointing out. With a loud crack and screeching sound, and streaming lights, the Knight Bus came to a halt and Stan, the driver's assistant, jumped out with a raincoat on, the hood up.

"Yeh boys needin' a lift?" Stan asked.

"Yeah." Fred said.

George added, "Diagon Alley. Mind if we get on?"

Stan nodded and let them pass by. "We got a few goin' there already. An ol' guy, an' a young chick."

Once in the dry confines of the bus, Fred and George secured the trunk to the free bunk closest to the front on the driver's side. It was the same one Harry had that first time he'd ridden the bus, he remembered. Free of their burden, the brothers dug in their dragon skin jackets for their coin purse, paying Stan for all their fare before Harry had opportunity to object.

"Wanna buy a set o' spares?" Stan asked when the bus sped off, barreling down one street before jumping into nothingness and landing in a new place, traveling high speed down a new road. Stan offered a set of rather bland, but clean clothes. "We got a place yeh change."

"I'm good, but thanks mate." George and Fred both said at the same time. Harry's shoulder hurt too much for him to think about caring that he was wet and uncomfortable. The three boys sat on the bunk and while George and Fred started cracking jokes once more—they did that a lot—and Stan took his seat by the driver, Harry stared blankly at the back of a person sleeping across from them. They were female, obviously from the way their skirt was tousled and revealed more than modesty deserved. They either really liked the color white, or it was a uniform.

Their skirt looked to be made of durable cotton, but their over-shirt had the look of silk from where Harry was sitting and the way the light hit it. Long black hair became a nest around the person, and there was a wooden staff lying on the edge of the bunk. Harry thought that the pea-green skirts and silk shirts must be an 'in' fad for girls of the wizarding world now; he wouldn't know since he rarely got news from the world in which he belonged. Kagome had worn a short skirt like that...

Harry thought it was odd that Stan wasn't bugging him. He had clearly shown his like for Harry the first ride on the Knight Bus. But soaked as he was right down to the bone, his dark hair matted to his head, just a scrap in a sweater and pants that would fit a whale, perhaps Stan didn't recognize him? Add to that the factor that he was traveling with two incredibly humored wizards wearing dragon skin jackets, he just didn't seem like Harry Potter.

Not that he really minded not talking to Stan. And it was nicer being on the Knight Bus without the incredible feeling weighing heavily in his gut that he was running away. He reached up and put pressure on his shoulder; it hurt like mad.

Kagome hadn't really said much about herself that could sway her as a good guy or a bad guy, unless the fact that she talked about the "Dark Lord" in her sleep. In that case, he'd have to immediately peg her as bad. Oh, and he could put her under the 'bad' category rather easily if he counted the fact that she cursed his cousin, and had a magical artifact that could take control of her.

If he saw her again, what would he say to her? He shifted on the bunk so he could glance out the window of the Knight Bus and watch the scenery pass in a sickening blur. Would he first ask her why she ran away? Or would he ask her why she was bleeding so bad as she ran?

Then again, if she was bleeding so bad would she have survived? Wouldn't she need some treatment? Her cuts could get infected and she would end up in a very unlucky situation as her body tried to stave off the infection. She could get seriously ill; perhaps even die.

He should have run faster to stop her. She'd seemed very scared, petrified, by something. What? Would he ask her that? Or would he demand more information on her? He was extremely uncomfortable with the thought that she could be some sort of spy for Voldemort. In that case, she was a really good spy, but also very bad. A good one would have made sure there was no doubt in Harry's mind that they were on the side of good.

She hadn't done that. She seemed willing to let him come to his own decisions. Well, if she _was_ good, then she wouldn't have done anything in her power to make sure he didn't think her evil. But if she _was_ under Voldemort's control, or even following him willingly, perhaps her tact was to make him think she was bad, then make him change his mind, then by that time she would be looked at as good and no one would think her bad and--ARGH!

How could these thoughts be so hard? It was like trying to put together a puzzle with all the miscellaneous puzzle pieces that were shoved into a jar after they were lost and then found again. No one knew what puzzle they actually went to. Or if they even _owned_ a puzzle with the "tye-dye" color scheme.

Before he realized it, the twins were leaning against each other snoozing. Harry's shoulder hurt too much to even think of sleep. The extreme cold had made him miserable and pained. He let them sleep. He'd kick them awake when they got to Diagon Alley, as they seemed to want to take him. But he did wonder why he wasn't going to The Burrow this summer. He'd looked forward to seeing Ron all summer, but maybe Ron, as Fred and George's brother, would be there at some point?

When Stan poked his shoulder to get his attention, he hissed in pain, taking in a deep breath in an effort to concentrate on forgetting his shoulder wound. Damn that whatever-it-was that had been in Kagome's trunk. It only served to make him more certain she was working for Voldemort. No sane person kept something that dangerous, unless it was Hagrid who simply did not count. Skrewts and dragons were _not _cute. Hagrid was dense enough to miss this fact.

"Eh, we're 'bout t' be at your stop. Buh't was wantin' a favor from yah, 'Arry." So much for the dellusion that he'd been forgotten. Stan wanted something; they all wanted something. He didn't generally want to give something. He unwillingly gave his mother and father, because he'd been too young to either understand or protect them. They died for him. Tonight, he seemed to hold tighter to that than usual. Usually he blamed Voldemort for that, not himself.

"What is it, Stan?" Harry asked, glancing at the generally cheerful young man. He seemed nervous, but Harry's shoulder hurt too much to be anything other than annoyed.

"That yo'n girl? She's for'en. Some'at show 'er t' get 'round?"

Harry glanced at the girl as she was indicated with a jab of Stan's thumb. She was still asleep, but tossing fitfully. With an inaudible sigh, he nodded. He could at least show her to use the stones behind the Leaky Cauldron. Stan thanked him and looked at her for a moment as if debating waking her. Then he decided better to wait until they got to the stop.

Harry looked back out the window. _He_ would've woken her; wasn't his problem though. Then they were pulling up to a screeching halt at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry shook his friends awake and the twins looked around groggily at first before jumping to their feet and attacking the restraints on the trunk. They'd pulled the trunk off before Harry could alert them to the fact that he'd agreed to help the foreign girl.

They practically dragged him through the Leaky Cauldron and out back before he could protest once.

-

Kagome cried out loud as her fitful sleep was disturbed and she was woken. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" she gasped. She grabbed the bow-staff for comfort, wiping her cheeks with her free hand. She glanced at Stan to see if he would condemn her for having a bad dream; he didn't seem to care either way, though he seemed sympathetic.

"Bad break up?" Stan asked, misunderstanding her desperation. She might want Sesshoumaru for that reason, but she _needed_ him for an entirely different one.

"Yeah," she said to simplify the questions. She wasn't going to tell Pleasant Stan about the jewel. After it had been ripped out of her, she'd come to learn that it was far more active in its attempts to control her during the few weeks surrounding its day of creation. So during this time of the year, she was supposed to have her guardian to lend his strength to her control. "So where are we?" she inquired of the man, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

He worked at the restraints on her pet carrier and her trunk, heaving them toward the exit as she trailed after him. "It's raining hard," Stan said. Indeed, rain was pelting the bus in angry torrents. They were just a few feet from a door what looked to be leading into a tavern of sorts. "But that's the Leaky Cauldron where you'll get a warm bed, hot food, and a hot bath. There's someone waiting to help you on the inside. I'll help you with the trunk before," Kagome shook her head emphatically.

"No, it's not necessary," she insisted. As he set the trunk down in surprise, she kicked it, and the trunk with the pet carrier lying atop it jumped out of the bus, much to the dismay of the demon cat in the carrier. Kiyoshi complained loudly as the carrier crossed the sidewalk to come to a stop at the closed door of the tavern.

Stan grinned at her and saluted her before saying his goodbyes. "It was nice to meet you. I hope you can ride the bus again sometime."

Kagome nodded her head at Stan, not replying to him as she stepped off the bus. The door shut and sped off. Rain drenched her white clothes, plastering the fabric to her body. She crossed the sidewalk, entering the Leaky Cauldron. Her trunk trailed her heels as she slowed down, realizing she didn't know what to do, or who was waiting for her to show her around. There were so many people here; big, hairy men; skinny, shady men; wizards and witches everywhere.

One of them looked like they might be a waitress. Kagome approached the woman, carrying her bow-staff. She didn't know why, but she seemed to be attracting attention. It was just a guess, but Kagome thought it might be her clothes. All the other women in the room were quite covered; compared to them, Kagome was naked.

"Hi," Kagome said, careful to speak English. The woman glanced at her, pausing in her step. "Um, I was told that there's an inn somewhere?"

The woman chuckled. "You're standing in it, dear," she told Kagome. She pointed to a boy behind a bar where several people were sitting. "Talk to my son; he needs the practice assisting patrons, so if you're patient with him, I'll take ten percent off your final tab when you leave."

Kagome nodded and approached the boy somewhat hesitantly. He didn't notice her right away, but as whispers of her flew down the bar he looked up and saw her. "Hi," he said, setting down the task of cleaning glasses to favor instead the task of helping her. "What can I get you?"

"I was told to see you about a room?" He nodded and Kagome continued, "Right now, I have only Japanese currency. I need to change," the boy stared blankly at her and she trailed off. "I mean, if it's a problem…"

"A foreigner," the boy mouthed. She wouldn't have known he'd said anything if she didn't know how to read lips. "Well, you can change currency at Gringotts, and then we can rent you a room."

Kagome frowned and looked around for a way to tell the time—any way really. With it raining as bad, it could be the middle of the day. But coins were placed on the counter from around her, and all she saw was a pale arm. She did recognize the voice though she wasn't sure why he had followed her.

Was he secretly working for Naraku?

"Here, I'll pay for her room." It was Harry Potter. Why was Harry following her? The young bartend stared at the boy behind Kagome as if amazed to see him, before he reached out for the coins on the counter and handed them a key. Kagome was too nervous to take it, so Harry took it for her, and he grabbed her arm, carefully leading her up the stairs.

She glanced at the teen beside her, her brow creasing in worry. Sure, he said he had an antagonist creature of his own, but for a bad guy, the antagonist was the _good_ guy… What if this Voldemort was really a good guy, but Harry made him out to be a bad guy?

It was so confusing… and as they crested the top of the stairs she found that the new altitude coupled with her sickness made her extremely dizzy. "Why are, who are you?" she asked.

"I'd like to know the same thing," Harry growled in an animalistic fashion as they entered the room she'd be staying in. Her trunk continued trailing and then set itself down by the end of the bed.

* * *

**Merry Christmas. I know you've waited for this for a while now. **


	3. You are Who?

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha-sama" universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

**Chapter three: You are Who?**

Kagome couldn't stay standing anymore. She swayed where she was for a moment before falling forward, her body thumping against the wooden boards of the floor rather hard. Harry wondered what exactly he was doing before he sighed heavily and reached down to the young girl. He rolled her over and put one hand under her knees and cradled her back in his other arm, carrying her to the bed in the room. He nearly tripped over a long staff, but kicked it away in annoyance.

When he had set her down, he found his right arm was covered in new blood so he flipped her over and found the silk shirt covered in blood. It had left an imprint on the sheets. He pulled the silk shirt up and found blood stained cotton. He pulled that one's hem by her shoulder blades as well and found a rather crudely wrapped linen bandage drenched in blood.

He wasn't sure why he felt the need to keep her injury quiet, but he went over to the door and shut it, locking it. Something told him that this wasn't going to be an ordinary injury at all. Fred and George would most likely get curious when he didn't return to their hotel room in a few minutes—he'd only said he had to go to the bathroom as an excuse to find the girl he told Stan he'd help—but that couldn't be helped now.

With Kagome unconscious, Harry moved to her trunk, picking up her pet carrier and setting it on the floor before working the broken latches to open the trunk. Inside it he saw the door at the bottom again, but this time it was closed. He made a mental reminder note to ask her why there was a door in the bottom of her trunk, and not just any door but one that led to a well that spouted naked bug women.

On the bed, Kagome was muttering in her sleep about 'Sesshoumaru-sama'. He found bandages and a container labeled "Wound Cleaner – use sparingly, for human use only". He was so glad he took those English classes all through his life… considering the _rest_ of the containers were labeled in some weird scratches. The other jars on the strange shelves in the even stranger trunk might have been more help, but Kagome wasn't awake to tell him what the heck they were, now was she?

He even managed to find a knife in Kagome's trunk. Really, what _didn't_ the girl have? If he could guess by the look of things, she never threw anything out, but instead simply cast a spell on her trunk that made it deeper. And now, looking down into it, even though from where he was it looked like he could touch the bottom by reaching out there was a ladder on an inside wall of the trunk.

Massaging his aching shoulder as wetness seeped into his bones even further, he approached the girl on the bed. He tried pulling her shirts off rather than cutting them, and the silk one that was too large for her and didn't appear to close or have buttons to do so, came off rather easily. The cotton one wasn't so easy, so he gave up and simply cut the dumb thing off, tossing the useless scrap of bloody cloth to the floor.

The bandages were the next to go, but he was more careful at shredding those with the knife as he didn't want to cause further injury with the double edged blade. Honestly, he knew he wasn't qualified for caring for injuries like this. There was likely someone down in the inn who would be able to do it better, but he liked to believe that his instincts would not lead him wrong. Right now, his instincts screamed that involving another person in this girl's life was a bad idea.

When he'd peeled the bandages off, it was as he'd suspected. The wounds looked more like claw marks than anything innocent, and they were pouring blood. He was about to use some of the clean linen he held to clean the wounds when she suddenly woke and shot upright, holding her hands to her mouth as though she would vomit. She turned herself over the edge of the bed and did just that, throwing up what little contents she had in her stomach.

"That was pretty gross," Harry murmured and was rewarded with a half-hearted glare.

"Poison," was her response as she struggled to move. "Anti-poison, in my trunk…"

For a moment he found himself accidentally staring at her free chest, but then she reached out and weakly pinched his arm with her nails. "Sorry," he blushed deep to the roots of his hair before helping her to her feet, skirting around the vomit on the floor.

"Why are you…taking me… it's labeled 'Rat Anti-Poison'." She breathed heavily for a moment as he helped her kneel by her trunk. He didn't even have to respond to her question as she seemed to realize right away what the problem was. She went to reach into the trunk for the jar she required, but her hand froze mid-reach and she uttered a soft 'oh no'.

Harry turned his head to the trunk, looking in to find out what the problem was. Right before their very eyes, the door at the bottom was sliding open. A creature that appeared neither male nor female hopped out, balancing on what looked like pigeon feet. Wings were where their hands and arms should have been. However, rather than a bird shaped body, they had a human shaped one—but still no giveaway gender to show for their nakedness.

Kagome hissed and threw herself away from the trunk, knocking Harry over as the bird creature jumped out and landed on the edge of trunk, wings spread and flapping in an attempt to keep balance. It shrieked noisily before flying around the room at dizzying speeds, its eyes always on Kagome.

Harry felt his pulse racing as he looked at that thing. It had to be almost two feet tall with almost four feet of wing span, yet it soared easily, snapping humanlike jaws filled with sharp meat teeth. "What the bloody hell is that?" he demanded of Kagome as she stared at the creature as well.

"It's a demon." Kagome explained breathlessly, forcing down bile that wanted to come rushing up. Her body felt like it was on fire with fever, and she was half-naked lying on top of Harry, an arm on either side of his hips, her legs and waist between his legs. The position was definitely compromising, but neither had a chance to think of it as the bird demon swooped down, biting at Kagome. She ducked her head into Harry's chest, forcing him to lie back on the ground from his half propped up position on his elbows.

"Well, I guessed that much, Sherlock," Harry groused, "but why the bloody hell is it here?" he tried keeping his voice down. Already he could hear movement in the next rooms over as the creature kept shrieking.

"Damn it," Kagome swore, "Harry, do you have a wand?"

"In my pocket." She went to move off of him so he could get it out, but the bird swooped down at them the instant she went to roll, making her stay put. "Great. I expect a full explanation after pest-control," he muttered lowly. A few seconds later and the door handle was jiggling. Someone was knocking on the door, asking if everything was okay in the room.

She shifted her hips and reached out for the pocket he'd been grabbing at. A shock of electricity made her pull back after the first grab, so she was more careful the second time. She wrapped her hand around the hilt of two long rods, pulling out a broken wand—his, she guessed by the look of anger and hurt on his face—and hers. More knocking. More questioning from the door's direction.

She took hers in hand and dropped his for the time being as the bird swooped down, attempting to claw at her. She would have been within reach that time, but at the last second, Harry wrapped an arm around her and flipped them over so she was on the bottom and he was nearly straddling her. She could feel her blood pouring onto the floor, and blood loss was making her weaker by the second.

If it weren't for the poison, she would actually be unconscious. She supposed the rat demon did some good by poisoning her. She bit her lip as his hand touched the wound, but raised her wand. She muttered a spell in Japanese, which Harry didn't understand, and bright pink light shot out of the tip of her wand and hit the bird, causing it to shriek its loudest yet and then dust and ash was fluttering around them.

And then the door opened; someone must have gotten a key and opened the door. Harry swore at the rather suggestive position he and Kagome were in and turned his head away from the door, but Kagome turned her head toward it. Her face burned; she was half-naked being straddled by Harry who she really just met a short while ago.

"We heard…" the intruder started but then Kagome watched his eyes widen. "Oh…" A smirk crossed his face and his green eyes lit up mischievously. "Why, by George, I think Harry's made a friend," the man said as he tossed a couple of pins up and down in one hand.

"It's not like that," Harry insisted, turning to look at his soon-to-be-headless friend George. Fred was also there, grinning happily. No one else was in the hall, yet. Harry got up off of Kagome, walking the few feet to the door. He grabbed Fred and George by the collars and irritably towed them into the room, slamming the door shut. Fred and George snickered.

"Oh, of course it's not," Fred said in all innocence, almost looking like he meant it, if it weren't for the look in his eyes. Kagome got up, blushing as she crawled to her trunk and peered inside. The door at the bottom was closed again, thank goodness. George's jaw dropped at the sight of the blood trail Kagome was leaving, and then he saw her back, and Harry's bloody hands.

"Harry, what did you," he began in uncertainty.

Kagome pulled out the jar of Rat Anti-Poison that she would need, trying to cover her chest in modesty with one hand. "It wasn't Harry!" she said, defending him before he had a chance to. She bit the cork between her teeth and yanked it out, spitting it out of her mouth before taking a long gulp of the Rat Anti-Poison. The three men watched her, Harry more cautious than the other two.

She could feel the pulling of the jewel around her neck as it thought to use her weakened body, but she was faster this time and took it off, throwing it to Harry. He caught it, surprised it didn't shock his hand into numbness this time. "I'll trust it to you, Harry, seeing as I'll pass out in a minute or so." She felt his curious stare as she took another drink of the rather awful tasting antidote.

"Who are you? And how do you know Harry anyway?" Fred asked curiously as her shoulders began slouching. He was curious why she hadn't screamed that there were guys in the room and she was half-naked. He was sure all girls were that way, but she did look foreign, so maybe it wasn't the same that way for foreigners.

George shifted over to her, a firm look on his features. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she said and then hiccupped, tears coming to her eyes. She felt the anti-poison slip out of her hands and the jar clattered to the floor, tilting on its side. The green liquid was added to the rest of the mess she'd made on the floor; vomit, blood, potion. She saw him swimming in her vision, but then he turned and walked away from her. "Don't go…"

She wasn't aware that she had reverted to Japanese, and they didn't understand her. Harry understood that she was again talking about her Guardian. He looked at the jewel in his hand. Could she be good? All that blood… wouldn't that be hard to fake?

George eased her to lie on her stomach on the floor, inspecting the wounds with a critical eye. He and Fred were no newbies to blood or wounds. They ran a joke shop and for several years had to use themselves as test subjects, especially after Ron's pet rat Scabbers turned out to be a maniacal, twisted Voldemort follower. They did like sneaking Scabbers away and using him to test their stuff, but now Scabbers—more accurately, Peter Pettigrew—had returned to his master Voldemort and was helping his master attempt to rule the world.

"Harry, there's a healing clinic in Diagon Alley, why didn't you call someone to help?" George already guessed why, but he wanted to hear it from his friend. He pulled his wand from his pocket as Harry picked a broken wand up off the floor, cradling it like a dead friend.

"Those aren't normal injuries, mate." Harry looked at the blood on his hands—her blood on his hands, and now his broken wand. Wasn't the wand his only saving grace against Voldemort? Hadn't he fended off Voldemort's Avada Kadavra killing curse using this wand? What was he to do now? With it broken, he wouldn't be able to use it. That had already been established when Ron's wand broke so long ago and Ron was forced to belch up slugs for several hours. Hermione was still having nightmares over that last year.

Fred drawled, "That isn't obvious. You hurt too?"

Harry shook his head. "All hers."

"Fred, do we have any of that Bloody Nose Candy here, or is it all at the shop?" George questioned.

Fred thought for a moment. "Yeah, I might have a piece of it. I'll go fetch it."

Harry knelt beside George. "You're thinking of candy now?" he demanded, hardly believing he was hearing what he heard. George pulled his white pajama top off and began soaking up the blood around the wounds, pale skinned chest bare to the world.

"Sure am, mate. The antidote to the bloody nose should stop the bleeding. After all, it was simply created to be a blood stop, right?" George pointed out as he continued on his task. Harry went over to the bed and grabbed the jar of 'wound cleaner' and the bandages. When he returned, he sat down and began using some of the linen to dab at the blood. Fred came back and force-fed Kagome the antidote to the Bloody Nose Candy.

They were silent for a while as the three of them worked at bandaging the injury. True to George's suspicions, the antidote to the Bloody Nose Candy stopped her from bleeding, though they had no idea how long it would hold for. Once she was bandaged up, they used the bloody sheets to mop up the floor and Fred went to wash up and request new sheets.

Harry and George went to wash up after Fred had returned with not only fresh blankets, but a small kettle of water which he poured into a dish he managed to fish out of Kagome's trunk and began mopping Kagome's skin anywhere it was bloody. Harry wondered if he ought to tell about the demons, but decided against it even as he stuck the jewel in his pocket.

It was Kagome's business to tell. He still barely believed it, and he'd seen two demons already now. Yeah, sure, he knew elves and ogres and giants and rather putrid looking dementors and trolls and thestrals and unicorns and all manner of creatures existed in the magical world…but wasn't categorizing demons a bit vague? He'd have to ask Kagome when she woke up.

Back in Kagome's room, all was silent for a while before George and Fred said, "Why don't you go sleep?" in perfect unison. George continued, "We can watch over her, mate."

Harry nodded and thanked them, going back to their hotel room and sitting on the bed. He didn't get to sleep for several hours, as he sat staring at his wand. It must have snapped as Kagome knocked him back to save him from being nailed by the bird creature as it flew out of the trunk. He had landed on that side. It was as though he'd lost his best friend…

Maybe he had…

_He was staring at something foreign, and dangerous in this dream. A girl, covered in blood all over her clothes, hid in a closet, crouched down and holding a wand in her shaky hands. He was crouched beside her, unnoticed, almost as if he were in a pensive memory. _

_She whispered something in a foreign language—something he couldn't understand. And then she said, "Sesshoumaru-sama," which he did understand to be the name of Kagome's guardian. Through the slats of the closet door a small amount of light came in, but hardly enough to see by. He couldn't see her face. _

_The door flew open and Harry watched helplessly as she was dragged out by her hair. He could see now that it was indeed Kagome as he had suspected it would be. The man who dragged a screaming Kagome had bright crimson eyes and white robes made of some animal fur. His hair was almost to the floor in length, and the darkest black in color. _

_He screamed something that forced a violent, hissed response out of Kagome. It sounded like she was refusing something, but what? It would be so much easier if he actually understood the language, but he couldn't. He was able to gather that the language was Japanese, since that seemed to be her native nationality. _

_The man screamed louder, hitting Kagome and knocking her to the ground. She crawled away, still refusing. And then her eyes seemed to come into contact with Harry's, unlike in a pensive where Harry had no control over what happened. "Run!" she told him. _

_He found his wand in his hand—not broken in the dream—and he aimed it at the man, really unsure what he was even doing. He wasn't sure what words came out of his mouth, or what spell he cast, but a bright light came out of the tip of his wand and knocked the man down. _

_Harry darted forward then, grabbing Kagome's hand and pulling her to her feet. He couldn't leave her there. He pulled her toward a door that he thought would go out of the room, and it did. They ran through seemingly endless halls but he held onto her hand, and if she fell, he helped her up. _

_The man eventually stopped following them, and yet, he was blocking the way back when they came to a dead end. Harry placed himself in front of Kagome, his wand ready. He kept holding onto Kagome's hand, fearful that if he let go for any reason, she would fade away._

Harry groaned as he was shaken awake. He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes and found George—or was it Fred? He was too tired to decipher who—swimming in his vision. "What do you want?" he grumbled, trying to shield his eyes from light coming from a magic glo-globe. Something held his hand tight.

"Scoot over, mate," the twin said grinning devilishly, even though he looked tired. He pointed down to Kagome, whose fingers were twined in Harry's. She sat on the floor by the bed, her head resting on the mattress. It looked to be an uncomfortable position.

Too tired to argue, Harry simply moved over and George lifted Kagome, placing her on the bed. Immediately Kagome curled up against him, as if asking to be shielded from danger. He groaned and put his head back on his pillow. "Is there a god? At all?" he demanded, nearly asleep again.

"Why?" the twin asked.

"'Cause if there is, he must hate me." Harry responded, already on the edge of sleep.

His friend laughed and dimmed the glo-globe. Harry found sleep quickly again, but didn't have another weird dream of Kagome.

By morning, Harry found Kagome had maneuvered herself to mimic the position from the day before though her chest was not bare this time, instead covered with a thick wrapping of linen. Still, he had a woman hugging his stomach, her head on his chest, and her waist and legs were between his legs. The position suggested an intimacy that he didn't have with her.

Thankfully Fred and George didn't appear to be around to see it. He tried to peel himself away without waking her, but instead ended up bringing her back to the world of the living. She didn't take kindly to the position she woke up in.

Kagome, freshly awake and not entirely with her senses, squeaked and shoved him. He wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but even though he was under her at the time, she managed to shove him right off the bed and he fell to the floor with a thump. After a reviving thump of his head to the floor, Harry felt much better.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded. "I wasn't touching you! I woke up and you were all over _me_!" Sure, it was a bit maddening that she had called him a pervert before and it turned out that she was the one who subconsciously cuddled the person she slept near.

"Pervert!" she hollered. "Shame on you! Why would you be in my bed?"

He glared at her. "In your bed? This is my room, I rented it for me, and you came in last night while I slept!"

He watched her face flush free of all color, turning her a sickly green. He did have a suspicion that blood loss had something to do with that color. Then her hands flew to her mouth and she looked pleadingly at him, looking ready to hurl. He pointed to a garbage can and she flew the distance, vomiting in the bucket.

Feeling pity on her, he went and pulled her hair back. It was a pretty nasty sound, listening to the spew hitting the bottom of the bucket. When she was finished she only had to wave her hand and the puke was gone. He did a double take, looking back into the garbage. Just a wave of her _hand_?

Her threat came to mind again.

_"Want to test that theory?" _

"Did you just do magic without a wand?" he demanded as she wearily sat at the desk chair in the room. It was impossible to do magic without a wand. Wands were channeling devices and a requirement… weren't they? Well, except for elves and other creatures who had their own magic. Humans seemed to be the only ones required to use wands.

"Yes," Kagome croaked. "It isn't hard. They begin teaching wand-free magic use at the Magic Academy our first year, and in order to graduate you're required to be able to use heavily advanced magic without a wand." Harry thought about this, a frown on his face. She could tell his line of thinking, and a smirk crossed her features. "That's also why the best witches and wizards are from Japan."

"What?" he couldn't help but ask. "But, England has the finest!" he was so sure. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Mad Eye Moody, Tom Riddle—also known as Voldemort…

"It's true that England does have some exceptional witches and wizards," Kagome conceded, "but the Magic Academy in Japan graduates _only_ the best."

"Like who. Name some." Harry demanded.

"Remember I told you about PDI? Potter Demon Industries?" He nodded, leaning against his desk. She continued, stretching her arms backward and forward to loosen up sore muscles. "Well, Inutaishou-sama's wife is Izayoi-sama. Izayoi-sama was among the greatest healers. Just a touch of her fingertips and she could bring a man back from almost-death."

"I haven't ever heard of her." Harry sniffed, although it wasn't surprising. He had to admit to very little knowledge of famous witches and wizards.

"Midoriko-sama, creator of my jewel, came from the Magic Academy." He reached his hand in his pocket as if just remembering he had it. The jewel glowed softly, not pricking at his hands with its licking black lightning. Touching it, he could feel darkness radiating from it, a soft call to do its bidding. The call was hardly pressing, though.

"Alright, I'll give you that one," he grumbled. "Another, then?"

She smiled teasingly, waggling a finger at him. "Now, I know one that should kick you!" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Tsugunai Dumbledore." His other eyebrow rose into his hairline. "The esteemed Albus Dumbledore's daughter works for PDI."

"What exactly _is_ PDI?" That wasn't exactly what he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask, "Professor Dumbledore has a _daughter_?" but the words wouldn't come out. This 'not being in contact' business really killed him. The famous Harry Potter knew so little about the wizarding world; how sad.

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but the door burst open; Harry put the jewel back in his pocket, hiding it, but it was only George (or Fred?) that came in. "Harry!" It was George, Harry decided. "You're awake! And you, little missy," George turned to Kagome, smiling mischievously. "Do you often wander in your sleep?"

Fred came into the room in time to see Kagome blush to the roots of her messy raven hair. "We turn our back for a second, and you got up."

"Wandered around for almost fifteen minutes, didn't she, Fred?" George chuckled.

Harry fought the blush at how Harry and Kagome woke up. Thankfully the two rather devious twin brothers had not seen that, or Harry would never have been able to live it down. "She did, George!" Fred responded.

Kagome was as red as an apple, her flesh glowing with heat in comparison to her dark hair. "I'm really sorry!" she insisted, her eyes looking at Harry's. "I didn't mean to, honest! It's just, a few weeks out of the year, around the jewel's time of creation, it acts up. I'm supposed to be with my guardian at that time, but I couldn't be!"

"Close the door, Fred," Harry phrased it like a question, carefully, but also left no room for any objection. Fred shut the door, and then tapped the door handle with his wand. Harry knew he'd put up a sound barrier. He turned back to Kagome. "Kagome, what exactly do you mean, and what do you have a guardian for?"

George and Fred shifted over to the bed. They had supplies under their arms for re-wrapping her wounds. She waved at them. "You won't need those," she said quietly. They looked at her curiously. "I… um," she coughed in embarrassment, "well, Harry… did you have any weird dreams last night?" she asked.

He frowned, not sure what that had to do with anything. He decided not to answer, but she plowed on anyway. "It was me, tapping your mind with Occlumency," Harry hissed in annoyance at that.

"Occlumency?" Fred asked.

George sat on the bed, "May I see anyway?" Kagome sighed but nodded. She pulled the pillow to her chest and let him cut the bandages away slowly. Fred maneuvered behind George so he could also see. Kagome had turned her body so they could have free access to her back, but kept looking at Harry.

"Occlumency is like telepathy. Truthfully, some people can be read like books. The mind has a set of natural barriers from birth, but as we grow, we strengthen those barriers, infusing them with ourselves, and we create new ones. Occlumency takes the mind and strips away the barriers, leaving thoughts and memories previously protected by those barriers." Harry frowned, trying to remember how Snape had described Occlumency. He was pretty sure it wasn't like that, but it did make a lot of sense.

"George, look," Fred said in an astonished voice.

George touched Kagome's back carefully. The flesh was covered in a thin layer of dried blood, but there was only the scars to prove anything had happened. "I don't believe it!" George said in a slightly pitched voice. "How?"

"Something you should understand is that during those weeks around the birth of the jewel, the jewel also calls to demons, teasing them with the promise of power. So the jewel brings danger to me, the jewel's guardian and master. I'm the only one who can control the power of it." Harry again took out the jewel, glancing at it. "The jewel can only be controlled by one with the blood of Midoriko, its creator."

"What does this have to do with Occlumency?" Harry asked and she sent him a slight glare.

"I'm getting there, oh-impatient-one!" she snipped. "Because the jewel has the power to control canine and canine demons," she was sure these three wouldn't attempt to use the jewel… that they were _good_, "it's a very important magical artifact for youkai," she paused at the confusion on Harry's face and then elaborated, "youkai means demon or demons in English," and his confusion only deepened, "it's a very important artifact that youkai like Inutaishou-sama keep it safe. The best way to do that, is to keep me safe."

Here she sighed. "You understand so far?" she asked, hugging the pillow tighter to her chest. With the bandage wrap, her whole back, chest, and stomach had been covered.

Fred and George looked rather thoughtful for a moment. "That still doesn't explain any mind reading!" George said.

Fred continued, "Yeah, the Occlumency is weird already… what does it have to do with anything?"

"Continuing on, then." Kagome sighed. She was really trusting them, and Sesshoumaru-sama would be upset for giving out the information that she had. But she could just sense the goodness in these three. The twins exuded mischief, but then again, she was no pure innocent when it came to pranks either. Sesshoumaru-sama was fun to try tricking, keyword being "try". He was always a step ahead of her.

"On my fifteenth birthday, I was at my mother's shrine celebrating. Inutaishou-sama, being the Demon Lord in the area and father to my best friend, was there. Sesshoumaru-sama, and all my other friends were present. Inutaishou-sama and my mama and grandpa were inside. On the shrine grounds, we kept an old, rotted well enclosed in a small building."

Harry recalled the strange well in her trunk. Could somehow that be it?

"The door to the shrine slid open and before I knew it, that jewel you hold in your hand was ripped out of me." She adjusted the pillow enough so they could see the bite scar on her stomach. "Sesshoumaru-sama dispatched the demon to the afterlife, and my mother—one of Japan's greatest healers after Izayoi-sama—took it upon herself to heal me. The reason Sesshoumaru-sama was chosen by Inutaishou-sama to be my guardian was because he was the only one who could touch the jewel without being burned. The jewel essentially chose him, and Inutaishou-sama made it official when he ordered Sesshoumaru-sama never to let his guard down, and never to let harm come to me."

"That doesn't make sense at all," Harry said. "People don't follow orders simply because someone gives one."

"Sesshoumaru-sama isn't a person, though," Kagome reminded him. "He's an inuyoukai, or dog-demon in English, and heir to his father's title. Following orders is his duty, and there is nothing more important or serious to him than his duties." She sighed and hugged the pillow further. She really missed Sesshoumaru-sama.

"You said the jewel burns people who try touching it?" Fred asked.

"Yep, that's what she said, mate," George agreed.

Harry again glanced at the jewel, remembering how it had licked at him with numbing black lightning the last times he'd touched it… remembering how it had glowed an innocent pink as it seemed to take her body over and she cursed Dudley into thinness. "But I'm touching it," Harry finished for the twins, knowing they were about to point that out.

Kagome nodded. "I've given it to you to hold," he offered it back and she shook her head. "If I come into contact with it right now, I think you know what will happen… considering what I did to your cousin—and I really _am_ sorry about that! I never got to apologize before the rat demon attacked."

"What did you do to the fat kid?" Fred and George asked in unison. Both of them were startled by the sudden declaration that she'd done something to Dudley, but not entirely surprised by it either. They'd done something to Dudley—mainly used him as a guinea pig for their candy experiments.

She flushed brightly, and decided not to answer their question. "You asked what Occlumency had to do with anything, but it was Sesshoumaru-sama who taught me how to access a sleeping person's own magical power, when mine is too weakened to do heavy magic like would be required to heal myself. I only need to touch a person's hand—I don't have a _clue_ why we woke up how we did!"

Harry almost groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead as identical twin looks of mischief turned to him. 'Damn, damn!' he growled mentally. It really wasn't in his favor, was it? And there for a moment, he'd thought he'd be able to forget about it. The twins would honestly never let him go on the subject. Their glinting green eyes proved that.

He tried to take the subject line of conversation elsewhere, before this one could even begin escalating into something it wasn't. "Does Occlumency really have the power to access someone's power?" 'Please, take the bait!'

Kagome closed her eyes for a moment, but never got a chance to answer. She raced across the room to the garbage can again and once more her head was in the bucket. The twins winced at the nasty sound, and Harry rolled his eyes. He tilted his head at the twins, telling them to leave, and after George removed Fred's sound barrier, followed the two out. The three hovered around the door to the room to talk.

"I like her," Fred beamed. "What say you, George?"

George also had a strange look on his face. "I do too. Harry?"

Harry couldn't keep his confusion off his face. He didn't know what to think, and he told his friends as much, "She dreams about 'the Dark Lord', can be controlled by a Dark Magic bobble," he indicated the jewel before shoving it and its rosary into his deep pocket, "and can take control of someone else's magic using Occlumency. That's not even mentioning the fact that she can use magic without a wand." Both twins looked startled at that revelation. "I don't know _what_ to think."

"Well, that's a good thing, mate. You usually make your mind up as to whether a person's good or bad right away," Fred pointed out.

"I don't know if it is or not." Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "There's also the issue of my wand," he began.

George questioned, "What's wrong with your wand?"

"It broke when that bird thingy attacked yesterday… that loud screeching noise, it was some sort of bird creature." The more Harry thought about it, the more depressed he felt. His wand… poor wand… "I don't know what I'm going to do. We all know what happened when Ron tried to use a broken wand, and quite frankly I don't want to have to learn his mistake the hard way."

"Well," George pat Harry on the back. "You could take it to Ollivanders. He might be able to fix it." Fred nodded his agreement, and George continued. "Anyway. Fred, you should go open the store. For now, Harry, we should just see what the girl's intentions are before you decide what you think of her. Okay?"

Harry nodded glumly. "Okay," he agreed and then remembered he did have that mail package for Kagome in his trunk.

Fred pointed out, "It's probably not a good idea to have her running around topless all day either, so you should see if you can get her some clothes. Maybe she's got some in her trunk."

George said, "There's a bathroom down the hall, if you'll remember."

"Why is she puking?" Harry asked, hoping the brothers would know.

Fred's response was, "Her body is attempting to rid itself of the poisons."

"It'll come out one end or the other," George shrugged. "Anyway, just keep an eye on her, Harry. If she feels up to it later, bring her by the shop."

Fred added a final comment, "And take a bath, mate, you look like a train wreck." Harry watched them turn and walk away from him before making his way to do as the twins had told him.

-

That evening, Kagome felt greatly refreshed. She had stopped puking, and she got bread and soup in the common area of the inn. She was wearing yet another of her school uniforms, the school insignia embroidered delicately over her right breast: a wand held by a human hand and a wand held by a dragon clawed hand crossing each other like an 'x'.

She'd found her guardian's haori in her room, a bright stain on the back. It was nothing that a good magic blood stain-remover spell couldn't fix, and once it was back to its original self, she pulled it around her shoulders, the large haori engulfing her form. Wearing it helped her feel close to her guardian, even though she knew he was miles away on the other side of the world.

Harry was a great help, showing her around the inn and pointing out who a few people were in the inn. When she asked him how he knew them, he explained he had spent some time in the inn a few years previous. He offered to show her where Gringotts was so she could go change her currency, but it was still pouring out and she didn't fancy going out into that.

So instead of Harry showing Kagome how to get into Diagon Alley, Harry gave Kagome the package that had been brought to her by owl post as the strange two-tailed black cat sat perched on her shoulders, tails swishing like they were entities of their own. The tiny creature's bright red eyes glowed, two rings of red on each paw and on both tails.

Harry knew it wasn't a normal cat. Kagome had told him as much, saying Kiyoshi was a fire-cat-demon. Kiyoshi's eyes shifted around the busy common room as Kagome and Harry sat in two chairs near the fireplace. Kagome tore open the package from Hogwarts and read over the contents. On the inside was a letter dictating transfer status to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"No!" she mumbled, attracting Harry's attention with her quiet outburst. He'd been staring into the fire, boredom settling into his veins. The rain made it impossible to go out without being drenched in ten seconds. He had been debating the merits of a game of chess played against himself when she spoke.

"What is it?" he asked. Even then, as he looked at her, he knew there were many questions he wanted to ask but didn't know how to word them. Many more pressing questions than curiosity over her outburst…

"Inutaishou-sama has transferred me to an Academy here in England… I thought I would be here a few weeks, then go back to Japan. Apparently that isn't so." He heard her sigh as she viewed the rest of the papers. She found a 'self-inking, anti-cheating' quill in the envelope and started writing on the papers almost immediately.

"What's that?" Harry asked another prize winning question as his eyes looked at some sort of test.

"It's a knowledge test, to test out my basic knowledge. Obviously. Probably to gauge my magical skill level and decide what classes I will take at the new school."

He didn't understand. Well, he understood why a transfer student would take a test before entering a school. But he didn't understand why she would just go to the new school without protest. He decided to ask her that question and was rewarded with a muttered answer that did not assuage his curiosity.

"My duty is to finish school. I would never disrespect Inutaishou-sama's judgment. If he thinks I should transfer, I will…" She sighed and leaned back in the chair. Kiyoshi grumbled and hopped down off her shoulder to the floor, giving her an affronted look before sitting down and licking his paw as if that was his intention all along.

"But…?" Harry questioned.

He saw a melancholy look pass her features. "But that means leaving my guardian…" Again, he felt the jewel in his pocket. She had said she would tell him when she could have it back safely. "And he's the only dumb dog I can't manipulate!" she said suddenly, startling him. "I want to be smothered by his love, and, and…" she blushed as people were looking at the strangely dressed foreigner and sunk even further into the chair. Slowly people went back to their dinners.

"You're like a fangirl," Harry shook his head slightly. "A very weird fangirl."

'Sesshoumaru-sama said that too, once,' she thought. "Well, you'd be one too, if you saw Sesshoumaru-sama!" she sniffed lightly and turned her back to him, her quill scratching on the parchment scroll. He shook his head slightly at her as her cat curled up at her feet, warmed by the nearby fire.

Even later than that, Fred and George came back to the inn. They were renovating part of their store for a place to live, but it wasn't quite done yet, apparently. The twins went upstairs, changed into dry clothes, and came back down for some warm food.

"Harry!" George beamed.

Fred chortled, "Kagome!" the two seated themselves on conjured plush cushions near the fire, and Kiyoshi hissed and scrambled out of the way in a hurry when a green bean cushion nearly landed on his head.

The fire cat glared up at his mistress, but Kagome waved off the reprimand. "You shouldn't lay under cushions, Kiyo," she told him. He sniffed haughtily, like only a cat could, and then casually jumped up onto George's lap.

For a moment, George and the cat stared at each other, but before George knew it, the cat slowly reached an extended clawed paw out and meaningfully dug them in George's leg. George let out a yelp, standing so quickly that Kiyo flipped right into the fire place.

Fred, Harry, and George all panicked as the cat disappeared behind several burning logs. Kagome had watched the scene and laughed at the boys' worry. As Fred and George were about to take their wands out and douse the fire, Kiyoshi hopped out, a tiny little ball of fire looking almost like a wet cat.

"Mrow!" he said in annoyance before shaking off. Not a single hair had burned. He swiped at George's leg, leaving scratch marks on his ankles, and then sat down licking his paw as if the event had no more spectacular feel than a dog snoozing on a carpet.

"What the bloody hell?" Fred asked in amazement, the same question the other boys wanted to ask.

Again, Kagome couldn't help but giggle. "Kiyoshi is a fire-cat-demon. He is impervious to fire." The boys looked at her in sheer astonishment.

"Impervious?" George demanded.

Harry finished, "As in, immune?"

Kagome nodded and wondered what was so great about that. She turned back to her test. Didn't England have demons?

-

The next day the rain had subsided to a mere drizzle and though Harry didn't like to send Hedwig out, he still lent his snowy owl to Kagome so she could send her exam in. Since it was labeled 'URGENT' he caved when she asked to borrow Hedwig.

After Hedwig was on her way to Hogwarts, Harry shoved his broken wand in his pocket more out of habit than anything and found Kagome. Her jewel was in his pocket yet again (she still refused to take it, saying it would control her if she came into contact with it at this point).

She had dressed herself in another of her strange skirt and blouse outfits, and he wondered how many outfits like that she had. "Harry!" she chirped brightly as she stuck her wand up her sleeve. When her hand came back out of the sleeve of the shirt, her wand wasn't in her hand anymore. She then pulled the long silk shirt over her outfit, and he became curious as to why she wore it. It didn't match her outfit.

"'Morning, Kagome," he said warily, still unsure as to whether she could possibly be working for Voldemort. She never really did anything that swayed him in one definitive direction or another about her. She'd once again snuck into his room the night before, and he'd woken up to her curled up in a ball at the foot of his bed around three AM. He'd carried her back to her room and she didn't come back after that, but still…

Kagome held a small bag in her hand that jingled. "Harry, I need to go to Gringotts to change my currency. Do you think you could show me the way?" she smiled sweetly at him, but all he saw in that smile was mischief. "Please?" She was up to something. Especially since that bag seemed far larger than a normal money bag. It was big enough to hold a muggle basketball.

Still, he nodded since he wanted to stop at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes anyway. Harry had asked Fred and George about it and they said the actual store hadn't yet kicked off. They had customers, and gained more and more each day, but they hoped that after students received their class lists and came to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies their store would pick up more.

They left the back way from the inn and entered Diagon Alley, Harry showing Kagome how to use the brick pathway. As they walked, their clothes became misted with the drizzling rain, but neither complained. Kagome's eyes wandered from store to store like a little child's as if she'd never seen so many things in one place.

"Wow!" Kagome breathed as she glanced up at the tall Gringotts building at the top of a large staircase. "This is really amazing…"

"It's just a building!" Harry said gruffly, remembering his own amazement when he first saw all the things in Diagon Alley. She had presumably grown up in the wizarding world, so he didn't understand her amazement. His was understandable, since he'd never seen most of this sort of thing before.

"Yeah, but I've never seen a place that was so exclusively directed at the wizarding world, like this little village!" She began hopping up step after step, her shoes tapping the pavement in dull thuds as the wet stone threatened to make her slip. "In Japan, the wizarding world and the Atarimae no Hito are not separate. Subconsciously, I think the Atarimae no Hito know of us, but they just label us as weirdoes and then ignore us." The big bag she had jingled as she swung it haphazardly.

He shook his head slightly and began following her up the steps. "Well, while you do your banking, I'm going to go do my own," he told her. He didn't want to take her down into his vault. But she agreed, and they said in one hour they would meet again at the base of the stairs to Gringotts.

When Kagome left him, she went up to a goblin with a long nose and winced as he leered down at her. "Ah, Miss Higurashi," he said, about as cheerful as a dying goat. "What trouble do you bring to our bank?"

She pulled out a smaller bag from her larger sack and set it on the counter. It was her coin sack. "Can I change money?" she asked. It didn't surprise her that he knew who she was even though she never spoke to him or met him before in her life. Most non-human magical creatures knew who she was by a simple glance. Even without the Shikon no Tama on her person, there was a connection between herself and the Shikon no Tama that, as Inutaishou-sama had once explained, can be felt in her aura.

He swiftly dumped out her meager supply of money. She'd grown up on a rather non-profitable shrine her whole life, and after her foster father was killed money became exceptionally tight. Only once Sesshoumaru-sama became her guardian, on her fifteenth birthday, did she start getting a small allowance from him. Still, that was over a year ago.

Each time Sesshoumaru-sama gave her money (he did it once a month), she sent most of it to help her foster mother and foster grandfather with the shrine expenses, saving very little of it for herself. Now, the bits that she did save were being counted by the Gringotts employee.

He counted out an equal amount of money in the English currency and dumped it rather unceremoniously into her money sack before shoving it at her. She took it with a small thanks. "Now, take your trouble elsewhere." He grumbled. She hurried away from the grouchy goblin.

It hadn't taken long for her to do her banking, so she still had forty-five minutes before meeting Harry. A smile on her face, she decided to enact the first stage of her plan. She knew it was her fault Harry's wand was broken, and she intended to see if it could be repaired, so she walked up and down the streets in hopes of finding the wand shop that George and Fred had told her about when she asked.

Ollivander's was closer on the end toward The Leaky Cauldron. She entered the shop to find a darkened interior that was more than forbidding. She nervously stepped up to a counter and rang a bell for service. It was a few minutes before a young woman stepped out of the back room. She smiled brightly at Kagome, "Welcome to Ollivander's. I'm Raven Ollivander. May I help you?"

Kagome nervously fiddled with the lip on the sack in her hand. "Um, I'm looking for Mr. Ollivander. Fred and George Weasley said I could find him here…"

Raven's features darkened. "I'm afraid you won't find my grandfather here… he… he's passed."

Kagome sighed and wrung the cloth of the bag in her hands. "I'm sorry…" she said. Well, so much for nothing. She had even taken the effort of sneaking into Harry's room last night to gut out the insides of his wand (those were the important parts anyway) as he slept. Now, she would return with the insides of his wand, yet not a replacement for it. "Thank you, anyway," she began and turned to leave.

Raven reached out carefully and grabbed Kagome's upper arm. "But wait, I could help you." She sounded almost desperate. Kagome looked back at Raven. "I know all my grandfather knew. Please, let me help you…"

Kagome hesitated, but turned back to Raven. The woman didn't release her right away, and that made Kagome feel nervous though she couldn't figure out why. "Please," she pulled her arm, and the hand holding her released her. She backed a few steps away before reaching in the bag for a jar that held the guts of Harry's wand. "Can you remake a wand? The wood was holly, but it broke a few days ago…"

Raven frowned. "It won't be as powerful, if this is all you have of it." Kagome walked over to the counter and set the jar of Harry's wand guts on the top. She took items out of the bag, setting each on the counter.

"Actually, I know I can't have you make it exactly the same, but I have some ideas that would level it back to its original power…" she indicated one of the jars that looked empty. "This is Mebana powder, from Japan." Raven's eyes widened slightly.

"Mebana powder?" she said curiously, picking the jar up to examine it. "How did you get a hold of this? England's wands haven't seen Mebana powder since before Voldemort came into power!" Kagome was startled by the name Voldemort; Harry had mentioned something the night before about most wizards and witches being afraid to call Harry's antagonist by his real name.

"I lived on a shrine with the Goshinboku… It bloomed last summer, and my mother and me spent our time collecting the Mebana blooms to dry and powder." Kagome smiled and touched the next jar, although her smile darkened as she touched it. That one had a red liquid in it and was almost fifteen inches tall, although it was very narrow and threatened to tip over. It couldn't have much more than two ounces of liquid in it. "This is… blood…"

Raven cringed. "Blood?" she asked, a nervous hint entering her voice. "Whose?"

"Mine." Kagome sighed. "Just, trust me. Soak the wood you make the wand from in this blood, until the wood is all that is left. It will take two weeks for the blood to soak in and for the wood to dry out before you can make the wand. I don't have much money, but I know the worth of a jar of Mebana powder, and this one is full."

Raven frowned. "Do you mind?" she said, indicating to reach out for the jar of invisible powder. Kagome shook her head, showing she didn't mind a single bit. Raven's hand closed on the jar of powder and she pulled the cork off, setting it on the counter. With more nervous hesitation, she gave a little laugh and her short, fluffy red hair fell in her blue eyes. She brushed it away quickly. "My grandfather used to talk about Mebana powder… He used to get imports from the Dumbledore family in Japan, before…" Raven bit her lip, a tear welling in her eye. "Well, anyway, I've never worked with it before, so I'm um, a little uncertain of how to work with something I can't see…"

Kagome pat the other woman's shoulders, taking a better look at her. She had pale white skin and slightly calloused hands from working with wood. She kept her hair cropped to the tips of her ears straight around her head. Her blue eyes were much lighter than Kagome's deep midnight colored eyes. She seemed a little nervous, but more so because she was probably not used to dealing with people—potential customers. She was tall, about five inches taller than Kagome, but still a full foot shorter than Sesshoumaru-sama. She wore a black over-robe that was a size big for her, despite she was probably in her early twenties. Beneath that over-robe was a sweater that was also a size big for her, and brown pants that threatened to fall from her form if she didn't have a tie string.

Over all, she looked almost like a boy, especially since she wore no makeup.

"Well," Kagome smiled kindly at the woman as she watched her stick her finger in the small pint-size jar and push her finger into the powder. She buried her fingers down to the bottom of the jar, and her finger disappeared, almost as if it were cut off. "I can show you a trick," Kagome told her.

"Okay," Raven agreed, taking her finger out and carefully brushing it off over the jar. Kagome had Raven sit on one of the stools in front of the counter and tilt her head back. Raven complied, seeming to fully trust Kagome despite the other woman knew nearly nothing about Kagome. "What's the trick?"

Kagome pinched the powder in her fingers. She could see it. It was a soft pink-white color. "Um," Kagome began, then decided to ask the woman if she really wanted it. "If I do this, you'll be blind for a few hours, but when you can see again, the powder will be visible… do you want to see the powder?"

Raven looked at Kagome for a moment, as if thinking whether or not she wanted it. "Just a few hours?" she asked.

Kagome nodded in assurance. "Eight at the most," she said.

Raven put her head back again. "Then do your trick. I take it if I make this wand for you, I'll get whatever Mebana powder is left, right?" Kagome said 'yes' as she took a pinch of the powder and used one hand to hold open one of Raven's eyes. "I shouldn't have to use much. Just the remains of the previous wand, and use the Mebana powder as filler."

"Yes. You won't need much. Just try keeping still… this will really hurt." Raven nodded. Kagome sprinkled the powder in Raven's eyes and she instantly gasped, and a muffled scream came out of her throat before her eye became a milky white. She squirmed, but she stopped herself and even though tears sprang out of her eyes. Kagome quickly sprinkled some of the powder into Raven's other eye, and Raven fell to the floor, scratching at her eyes as she sobbed.

Kagome cast an immobilization spell on Raven so she wouldn't injure herself, and then dabbed at Raven's eyes with her haori sleeve. Milk-like tears came from Raven's milky eyes. "My…grandfather…" Raven struggled to say, "t-told me… of an angel… only the blind can see…"

Kagome shook her head and sighed. "I have wood from the Goshinboku for you to make the wand out of… Okay?" Raven uttered a soft noise that Kagome took as a 'yes'. "It's on the counter. In a few moments time, the immobile spell will fade, and the pain will too." Kagome reached into the bag and pulled out the last two items: a scrap of wood almost two foot in length and enough to make two fourteen inch wands from, and a rosary with blue beads and white fangs. She put the wood on the counter and the rosary around Raven's neck.

"Are you leaving me?" Raven asked nervously.

Kagome smiled. "If you need me, just grab the beads of the rosary with your wand hand and say my name. Kagome. I'll be here as soon as I can if you do that, but I'll need the rosary back soon as you can see again."

Kagome grabbed her tiny money sack and walked toward the door. "I'm staying at The Leaky Cauldron for now. Please do your best on the wand, and don't forget to soak the wand wood in the blood and let it dry. It takes about two weeks." Kagome turned to leave, but then a last glance back at Raven made her change her mind. She moved back to Raven and settled on the floor. She couldn't leave Raven during this vulnerable time. Harry would wonder where she was, but it couldn't be helped now.

-

Harry did indeed wonder where Kagome was. After waiting at the base of Gringotts' steps for over an hour, he got fed up and decided to check out Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Kagome probably went to look around the shops, and just lost track of time. Or maybe she went back to The Leaky Cauldron. Or maybe, that suspicious part of his mind breathed, she went to meet with a contact who _happened_ to be a Death Eater…

He grumbled as he neared the joke shop, and yet his irritation evaporated nearly immediately once he stepped inside. Fred and George swooped down on him almost immediately, leaving their assistant to operate the register. The twins eagerly said, "Harry! Glad to see you made it today."

Fred added, "Yesterday was a right foul day, huh, George?"

"Rain burst through the roof over Fred's head yesterday." George snickered. Harry somehow got the feeling that it wasn't an accident. He grinned at his friends as George led him around. Sure, the place was busy, but as Fred and George had pointed out, they weren't as busy as Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade.

"Three days, mate," Fred said. "Three days until the upstairs is ready for us to move in. Then we won't have to stay at The Leaky Cauldron."

George nodded, "Not that it's a bad place, mind, but Tom ordered us to stop our experimenting in The Leaky Cauldron's rooms!"

Harry's grin widened as he was introduced to Fred and George's assistant Verity. She smiled pleasantly and said hello before turning back to the register. "I can't imagine why Tom wanted you to stop," Harry drawled, thinking of a time when Fred and George's experiment turned the entire Gryffindor common room into a mess of green sludge.

Harry managed to visit the twins for a few minutes before they were dragged away by a few customers who had questions about their products (lasting side effects of a potion that would make someone's eyebrows fall off…). Not wanting to purchase anything at that time, and being a rather hungry person, he went in search of food. The Leaky Cauldron was as good a food stop as any, so he went back for food and to dry out from the drizzly rain.

Kagome was still noticeably absent. But a hearty bowl of stew helped take his mind off of her. After eating, he found Kagome's cat rubbing against his leg. He picked it up and took it _back_ upstairs and found Kagome's room was unlocked. He tossed the cat in and locked it again. The cat scratched at the door. He ignored it and made his way down and back out to Diagon Alley.

Bored, he decided to simply wander around in search of Kagome. He checked several shops and never found her. Eventually he found himself at the start of Knockturn Alley… he shook away thoughts of her going there… but he hadn't warned her… He returned to The Leaky Cauldron rather late. Even Fred and George were there already… but not Kagome.

He sat down with his friends in the common room of the inn and they asked him where Kagome was, right away. He rubbed his chilled shoulders and made a spot for himself beside the fire to warm up. "I don't know. We agreed to meet up by Gringotts at ten this morning… she never showed. I would have figured her to be back by now." The look on the twins' faces as they glanced at one-another showed Harry he wasn't the only one suspicious of her now.

Then Kagome came back from Diagon Alley. She was soaked, and a little roughed up. She had a bleeding scratch on her knee. She looked like she was about to just go upstairs, but Fred called out to her. "Kagome, over here!" he said.

Kagome walked over, stumbling a bit even as she wrung out her haori. George asked, "What happened to you?"

Kagome yawned slightly as she sat on the floor, her clothes sticking to her almost inappropriately. She ran a hand over herself and the clothes dried. Harry was still amazed at the wand-free magic ability he had. "I had a disagreement with a shelf of wands…" she muttered. "The shelf won." Instantly Fred and George were snickering. "Really, I swear. European organization is non-existent."

Harry joined Fred and George in the laughter. They had all seen the inside of her trunk, and while they couldn't read Japanese, there certainly was less organization in that thing than a junkyard had. Still… Harry was suspicious. He knew he had to go to Ollivanders' and hope for a new wand… but he put it off…

-

Still, the next day he and Kagome found the day to be rain-free. Together they walked through shop after shop. This time, Kagome brought Kiyoshi with and he sat on her shoulders the whole time almost hidden completely against her long black hair if it weren't for the bright flame red in his fur and his red eyes.

Fred and George took off work at eleven AM to have lunch with Kagome and Harry at a small parlor. Harry didn't do too much of the talking, not wanting to betray his suspicions of her, but she freely answered all of the twins' questions.

"What's your favorite color?" Fred asked.

Kagome smiled. "Silver."

George asked, "What's your favorite metal?"

"Silver also."

Fred asked, "Where did you go to school?"

"The Magic Academy in Japan."

"How old are you?" George asked.

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen next summer."

"What age do you graduate at the Magic Academy?" Fred asked.

Kagome tapped her chin thoughtfully. "There is no set age, really. The Magic Academy will _not_ graduate anyone unless they can do advanced magic spells without a wand."

George's frown also turned speculative. "So when do you start learning?"

"Age four." Kagome grinned into her lunch sandwich, chewing before continuing on. All three boy's eyes had widened. "My best friend might be there another hundred, and Sesshoumaru-sama graduated last year after only fifteen years there, at age nineteen. Kikyou-san graduated last year too after fourteen years, at age eighteen."

"Wow," Fred blinked.

George added, "And I thought Hogwarts was too long…"

Kagome giggled. "Well, it's not really so bad, if you pay attention. My mama graduated school when she was eleven. Of course, she was a special case. She had grandfather teaching her during the summer too…"

George scratched his chin and dove into a new question. "What's your best friend's name?"

Fred asked immediately after that, "Is she hot?"

Kagome choke on her sandwich for a few seconds before she managed to gulp it down and laugh loudly. "Inuyasha? Well…" she snickered. "_He_ isn't as hot as his brother!" Fred laughed at his own embarrassment.

The next day, walking with Harry, Kagome saw a window display of a broom. It was called the Avalanche. Her jaw dropped seeing that broom and she felt her heart clench at the memories of the wizarding sport Quidditch, playing it with her friends. Inuyasha was always the keeper. Kagome was a beater. Sango was a beater. Miroku, with his sharp eyes (that could spot a pretty lady three miles away) was seeker. Then Kouga and two of his friends were on point for the quaffle. Seven others from school were always available to play against them.

She felt homesick suddenly, and wiped furiously at a tear that wanted to push its way out of her eye. Sesshoumaru-sama had taken to watching her the last year as she played, although the extent of his watching included going to the field and sitting with a book until she was done.

"Kagome?" Harry asked, "Are you okay?" She'd been staring out into space for the past few minutes, just staring blankly at the broom display. Sure, it was a really nice broom. Even better looking than his own.

Kagome nodded, and they continued on their way to meet Fred and George for lunch. By the time they got there, she managed to push the homesickness into the back of her head, enough that she didn't look sad anymore even if she felt lonely as hell. Questions commenced again, and she answered them equally and honestly, even managing to get in a few of her own, asking about the twins and Harry.

That day, the twins learned that Kagome had no idea how famous Harry Potter was. She was startled as a few people who recognized Harry came up to greet him, but said she could understand how Harry got annoyed by it when he said it bothered him.

"How do you know how it feels?" Harry asked her suddenly after she said she understood.

Kagome picked at her food for a moment, feeling a distant look cross her face as she remembered how things had gotten to be the last year at school. "I know how it feels…" she said quietly, "because that's how it was for me back home this last year… After a lifetime with no one knowing or caring a bit who I was… suddenly everyone wanted to be my friend, because I had a power no one else did."

Harry felt his suspicions disintegrating after that, even though he wanted to hang tight onto them. She could just be saying that, to get on his good side. But something told him she wasn't. "Then what?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," George added, "What happened?"

Kagome sighed. "My best friend, Inuyasha, has been there for me since I first met him on the train to the Magic Academy. He's never cared that I never really had money, or that I didn't come from a prestigious family. So when people started trying to get close to me simply because they found out I was the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama, he started challenging people to duels left and right. He's a wreck with magic, but he has a lot of heart, and guts."

"What happened when you first met Inuyasha?" George asked.

Kagome managed a warm smile. "He ran me over while chasing after his rival-at-first-glance, Kouga. So, annoyed that he wouldn't apologize to me, I stormed away to my cabin and got out a rosary. My mama had been teaching me subjugation spells, and I was so mad I managed to make it work on the rosary even though I'd never managed before. It was my first conscious spell success and I found Inuyasha, snuck up on him, and put it on him before he could stop me. So every time I say 'sit' within range of the subjugation spelled rosary, he 'sits'."

Harry, Fred, and George blinked. "And you were four, at the time, right?" Kagome nodded in response to Harry's question.

"Yes." she nodded. "I was pretty angry. After that, our friendship equated to him pulling some prank on me, and me getting him back for it." A wicked grin crossed her features. Mischief laced her voice as she said, "I got him just as we were getting off the train this summer... turned his hair pink."

Fred and George laughed at that, but Harry felt pity on the guy. They fell into silence for a few minutes as the four ate their food. Harry thought about what he knew about Kagome yet again. She seemed so… weird… yet he couldn't make his mind up about her. He couldn't decide whether or not she was a danger, or if she wasn't.

"So, Fred! George!" Kagome said cheerfully. "I did notice you were looking for part-time workers. Could there be a place for me on your workforce? I'm slightly intelligent, cheerful, and a hard, patient worker." Kagome had decided that she couldn't just sit doing nothing. She was used to working, especially in the summer.

Fred and George were surprised by her sudden question. "Well, Fred," George started, "what do you think?"

Fred looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure, George. Harry, what do you think?" Both twins looked at Harry, and he knew their thoughts. 'Have you decided yet? Good or bad?'

Harry didn't have any idea what his feelings were yet. So he simply shrugged and picked up his garbage. "I have homework to do still. Snape's potions assignments are killing me, I swear it," he discarded his garbage in a nearby dump container and took off for The Leaky Cauldron.

Kagome watched him go. The truth was, she was still suspicious of _him_. He was too conveniently where she went, and it hadn't even been two weeks ago since the attack… the attack that lost her entire family… The only reason she hadn't yet broken down was because she couldn't let herself lapse into depression. She already knew that if she let her emotions get the better of her, the jewel had a greater power over her.

That made it even worse for her, especially now at the time of the year around the creation of the jewel, when its control over her became more active. It could grab onto that melancholy feeling. She had learned a lot about the Shikon no Tama over the past year through necessity, even though there was incredibly little book knowledge on the artifact, since during the time of its creation, recording facts about mystical items wasn't really common practice, and the two who knew the most about it died with it.

She glanced at Fred and George. They were eating still. She still had most of her food left, and probably wouldn't finish it for a while. She glanced at Fred and George. They were eating still. She still had most of her food left, and probably wouldn't finish it for a while. "I don't think Harry likes me much," Kagome heard herself commenting.

George and Fred glanced at each other. "Of course he likes you," Fred said hesitantly. "He's just… not sure how to act around _cool_ girls." He added.

George nodded enthusiastically, although Kagome had suspicions that reason wasn't entirely true. "Harry's, uh, lacking in the 'girl' knowledge department. He has a friend who is a right foul nag, but she's the only girl he probably knows how to deal with."

Kagome brushed her hair over her shoulder. "Well if you say so." She murmured.

George added, "Hurry and eat. We can head back to the shop then, and Fred and I can show you the ropes."

"While you tell us about the pranks you play on Inuyasha," Fred grinned. "I'm most interested in that!"

-

Over the next few days, Kagome barely even had time to think about Harry's apparent dislike of her. She saw him at lunch time, and between going to Ollivanders' to see how Raven was—she really liked the other girl, and Raven was only a few years older than her—and working for Fred and George, she barely had the energy to eat supper.

Harry's owl, Hedwig, returned with two letters: one for Kagome, the other for Harry. Both were standard letters, indicating items that would be required for the upcoming school year, and stating when they had to be to King's Cross Station to board the train. A few days after that, Harry came to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes while Kagome was working with a plump woman who fluttered around Fred and George with equal amounts pride and irritation at their profession.

She said that she was proud of them for doing so well and being so knowledgeable about business related industry, and yet she was disappointed they quit school early. Kagome heard the woman tell Harry, Fred, and George that unfortunately Ron, Hermione, and Ginny couldn't make it, and their father was busy with work but said he would stop by as soon as possible to see how they were.

Fred, George and Harry had lunch with the woman, so Kagome went and had lunch with Raven. The twins' assistant Verity explained lunch was her favorite time of the day since she got to work the shop alone without two noisy twins causing a raucous.

But soon enough, Kagome was back on her schedule of lunch with the three boys and they bombarded her with more questions about Japan and how the magical world was run there while she attempted to raise a few questions of her own. She used money earned working for Fred and George to buy the items she would need for the year at Hogwarts, and then simply tossed it all in her trunk.

Kiyoshi was with her nearly everywhere she went, and finally Kagome decided it was time to get the Shikon no Tama back from Harry. He handed it over willingly at lunch when she asked for it, and she put it around her neck and tucked it under her blouse.

"I heard demons go to the Magic Academy," Fred started after she'd adjusted her blouse to hide the jewel.

George continued, "But in England, non-human magical creatures can't hold wands."

Kagome nodded. "It's true, most of the world is like that, banning magical creatures from using it, but Japan isn't like that." She thought of the best way to explain it. " Japan's magical community is run by demon lords. Inutaishou-sama, for example. He's a demon lord, which in England would be equivalent of a King status. He would not ban his people, and witches and wizards of Japan don't see any problem with demons using wands, since it's a focal point, and in most cases will help direct Maryoku."

George said, "Maryoku?"

Kagome tapped her finger on the table in thought. "Magical power… I think that's the simplest way to translate into English. All demons have Maryoku, but not all of them can access it, which makes many of them have Inzen instead of Maryoku…" at their confused looks, she elaborated further. "Inzen is latent power. Um, so some people call them Bakadzikara no Inzen no Youkai. It means 'Demon with latent power but great physical strength'. Just like a human born to magical blood who cannot use Maryoku is called Bakadzikara no Inzen no Hito."

"Ah," Fred said knowingly, as George agreed, "Like Squibs."  
Kagome blinked at them. "Squibs?" She'd never heard the term before.

George explained, "Squibs are non-magical magical people." Kagome's eyes crossed in confusion but she let it slide, not really caring to put too much thought into it for the moment. "So, what do you call a muggle?"

That was one Kagome did know. "Atarimae no Hito." She continued on, "So for those demons with Maryoku who have difficulty channeling Maryoku, the wand helps them separate Maryoku from reiniku—the body and soul. Because the body is created of three parts, the Shitai, Seirei, and Reikon—the body, the spirit, and the soul—some people cannot separate the Seirei from the reiniku as easily, and some simply cannot separate the Seirei at all."

"I never learned any of that in school," Fred exclaimed.

Kagome blushed profusely, "I'm sure you would have… but you did say you quit early… maybe you never got that far?" She wasn't trying to show off her knowledge…

Harry, who had been silent thus far and very rarely asked a question at lunch, then did ask one. "Why are you here?" Fred and George blinked at Harry's sudden outburst and even though she knew what he meant exactly, Kagome fell silent and stared at her hands pretending she hadn't heard.

Silence reigned for a long time before Harry asked her again, looking at her through half-lidded eyes. "Who are you _really_, and _why_ are you in _England_?" Harry demanded. He just couldn't wait any longer to find out. He had to know whether she was good or bad. She really never gave definitive indication either way. She was mostly polite, worked for Fred and George, never really stepping on toes while she did it. But then she disappeared somewhere for hours after she got finished with Fred and George.

_Where_ did she _go?_

When it became apparent that Kagome had only one option—telling—she sighed and folded her hands in her lap. She tried not to let tears come to her face. "As you know," she began softly, "I never got to meet my real parents. Professor Dumbledore told me my mother was a close acquaintance of someone named Lily Evans. But by the time I was born, Lily Evans was nowhere to be found, and apparently my mother was on the run from some ex-boyfriend named Tom Riddle."

Harry choked on his drink, and Fred and George looked stunned. The three boys tried to do some calculation of how old Voldemort would have had to be at the time… In his late forties… "She didn't want me getting hurt, so she found Lily's sister Petunia and asked her to care for me for a few months…"

Kagome sighed and now picked at her food. George, Fred, and Harry all looked at her like she'd seen a ghost. "So," Kagome continued, "Petunia agreed to take care of me, but it wasn't indefinite. But by the time my mother could return for me, the Dursley's had given up on her return. They stuck me in a carrier and put me on a plane bound for Japan. I was found by an Atarimae no Hito, who took me to Inutaishou-sama. Inutaishou-sama in turn gave me to a family—the Higurashi's—and I grew up with them."

Harry could hardly believe his ears. It _sounded_ like Kagome was Voldemort's Daughter, and yet she didn't seem to have any clue that she was. He wondered, how was that even possible? She looked nothing like Voldemort! And she definitely looked like any Japanese he ever saw (not that he'd seen many, but still!).

"Why are you _back_?" Harry demanded, feeling strangely detached.

"Remember I told you I had an antagonist?" he nodded. "Well, my antagonist knows of the Shikon no Tama, and he came to my foster family's home to try to 'persuade' me to join him and his master, who he called the Dark Lord." Kagome felt the lick of electric tendrils entering her flesh as the Shikon no Tama reacted to her misery. But she fought it, pushing it back into the jewel.

Kagome couldn't stop the tears, and her fists clenched in her lap. "He killed my family!" the words came out in an angry hiss that, unbeknownst to her, had been spoken in Parseltongue. Only Harry understood her. It confirmed the belief that she was daughter of Tom Riddle, who in turn was also Lord Voldemort. She was Voldemort's daughter… impossible… who could love someone like him?

"Wait… you are…" Harry felt dizzy at the revelation. "You are…who?"

**_------------------  
Bonus: There used to be a bonus prequel here, but it was causing confusion. I removed it and posted it as it's own story, due to the enormous amount of confusion my readers have suffered from it. Please view my profile for the link. The prequel to "Voldemort's Daughter" is called "Running". It is a one-shot, and complete as-is. Thank you for reading. - TK.  
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**Ok, I know I said I would not demand reviews anymore, but from now forward I am a hypocrite and so screw it. If I'm putting a shit load of effort into this, you can start telling me what you think of the story. This chapter is 21 pages and over 14k in words. Review what you read, be helpful, give me suggestions, tell me what you think is going to happen next. Seriously, I don't care that I'm a hypocrite. I will not update without the million readers putting forth effort as well! Thanks for reading! **


	4. Draco Malfoy Who?

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha-sama" universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter four: Draco Malfoy Who?

They didn't get any more from Kagome after that. She ran off before Harry could demand answers, and when she didn't show up for two days except to work her shift at the joke shop, Harry began to feel guilty. It was his fault she was upset, although he didn't know why he should be bothered.

It could have been the fact that if he had waited, she might have given it away, but if she _was_ a bad witch, she would guard herself closer than before, that much was certain, because he'd given it away that he was onto her. Fred and George both expressed their worry over where she could possibly be getting off to at night, since she didn't return to the inn.

When she did start returning to the inn, it was only Fred and George's insistence that he not press the issue that kept Harry from shaking her until answers popped out of her mouth. He began keeping a closer eye on her, and his assignments, especially Snape's potions essay, began to be neglected. He shouldn't have waited until last minute to do his school work, but he hated potions anyway.

Before he knew it, two weeks had passed and there was only a week left before they would have to go to King's Cross. Fred and George moved into their newly finished apartment and insisted that Harry room at their place, and that made it harder to keep an eye on Kagome and watch for suspicious activity. He had yet to figure out where she went to in the afternoons; for some reason, something always managed to distract him and she would disappear.

That day, one week until they would return to school, Harry was on his way to lunch with Kagome, Fred, and George (since they usually ate together during meal-time) when he ran into none other than Draco Malfoy. Well, not literally. He actually saw Draco and ducked away so Draco wouldn't notice him, curious where Draco was going or had come from. Draco was, for once, alone. His snooty mother wasn't there to turn up her nose, and his father wasn't there to be disdainful.

Of course, that really made no difference, as Draco was and always would be Draco. The pale sixth year wizard had a triangular shaped face, and when combined with his white-blond hair color and iceberg gray eyes, the angular look made him seem something superior and cold, almost unapproachable. He'd always held himself in just such a way that he seemed dangerous, but brave Gryffindor Harry Potter really never registered danger.

Draco was taller, having grown over the summer as most teenagers would do. He stood one inch taller than Harry, though they used to be the same height. He wasn't exactly gangly like Ron had grown, but his shoulders had broadened a little. He wasn't flanked by his Slytherin cronies either, but what shocked Harry most about the appearance of his rival was the something unkempt part of Draco's look.

Draco was usually garbed in pristine clothing, robes that did not have a single thread out of place, and generally kept his hair slicked back. Actually, Harry couldn't really remember a time when Draco's hair hadn't been either cropped to his ears or slicked back, so he was surprised to see Draco's hair had grown out to his chin over the summer and it was somewhat disorderly, hanging in his face so that Draco ended up running his hands through his hair to push it aside often.

Aside from the fact that Draco's robes were less than perfect (torn in more places than one - _some people were turning their noses up at _the_ Draco Malfoy!_) Draco had two black eyes, one much puffier than the other so that Draco seemed half-unable to see, and his face had scabbed-over cuts and yellowing bruises. Momentarily, Harry was able to forget Kagome (and the lunch he was supposed to be having with his mischievous friends) in light of seeing Draco so messed up.

As he followed Draco down Diagon Alley, he noticed that Draco was walking with a terrible limp, and each step on his left leg looked like it pained him a great deal. People didn't really stop to look at Draco, only glanced scornfully at him before dismissing him as something beneath them. Even those who seemed the type who would have praised Draco for his mere presence didn't notice him.

Of course, Harry contributed it to the fact that Draco wasn't exactly looking like his normal perfect self, but Harry's sharp Seeker vision told him _that figure was Draco_. So, why did Draco look like he did now, and where was Draco going? Was he going to Knockturn Alley? Harry wished he'd thought to bring his invisibility cloak, but he hadn't.

Instead of continuing toward where Harry knew the entrance to Knockturn Alley was, Draco turned down a side street into an alley that wasn't used much. Harry didn't go in the alley yet, but waited and watched to see which way Draco would turn. The boy didn't leave the alley on the other side, but stopped and knocked on a door, which was opened to admit the pale boy.

Harry wondered who Draco could be meeting, and what they would be meeting about, but he was debating whether or not he should go into the alley and see if he could get close enough. He had to duck into a nearby café when two more people showed to enter the alley. He received odd looks from the incredibly sparse amount of patrons, but they just shrugged him off before turning back to their tea.

With a sigh, he asked himself what the hell he was doing. He knew Draco's dad was a Death Eater, and that Draco himself wasn't terribly upset with the idea that Voldemort could come into power, but sneaking around after Draco, _hoping_ to find out Draco was up to something, was something he shouldn't be doing.

But then again, he left the café and peered into the alleyway, wondering if the two people he'd seen had gone to meet with Draco or just used the alley as a short cut. Was it really worth all that effort to eavesdrop and likely find out nothing? Of course, he might find out something useful, perhaps a death plot that was to be used against Harry himself, or then again, maybe Voldemort was there?

'Screw it,' thought Harry before he moved into the alleyway. There was a window next to the door, and he was able to peer inconspicuously through it, enough to see Draco sitting heavily on a stool as a person with short mouse-brown hair dug around in cupboards for items. The items were set on the table next to Draco's stool. Draco himself sat with his head down, looking at his hands as the person--female by the sound of her voice--talked.

"Drake," she sighed wearily, "why don't you just stay with me? You keep on getting hurt out there. Honestly, I never met anyone so damn stubborn!" She brushed her hands over her too-large shirt hem before grabbing up a brown bottle, pouring clear liquid onto a cloth and tilting Draco's head up. Draco winced visibly as whatever the liquid was burned the cuts on his face.

"Raven, you don't understand," Draco told her. Harry assumed Raven was either her name or a nickname. "I wouldn't even _be_ here if I didn't need a new wand and my school supplies."

"I know, Drake, so you've already said," Raven's lips pressed together in a frown. "But there's only one week left until you have to go to King's Cross," again, Draco winced as the liquid was applied and his wounds bubbled and fizzed. "Have you even _eaten_ in the past couple weeks?"

Draco actually looked guilty, and he didn't answer. However, that seemed to be answer enough for Raven, since she said, "At least stay and eat, Drake." she didn't seem to be leaving much room for argument, and Draco shrugged in a rather non-committal fashion. "You want a new wand, you'll just have to stay for it. Maybe you can even meet my new friend too. In exchange for re-making a wand, she gave me a full jar of Mebana powder and is letting me keep what remained of the wood she wanted the wand made from. There's a good chunk left for a new wand, so I'll make yours from that."

Draco's wand broke? Harry couldn't imagine why else Draco would need a new wand, but it was surprising. Actually, a lot of it seemed surprising as for what the current situation was. Draco appeared to be in some sort of trouble, and Harry knew what that looked like having experienced more of it himself than he preferred to like.

"Oft times I wish you were a Hufflepuff," Draco said as she shook her head and yet again he winced as the girl made quick work of his injuries. They were quickly fading as they healed, and soon looked like he'd never been injured in the first place.

"Well, hard as it is for you to accept that I'm way better than you--_and_ a Slytherin--you're just going to have to make due." She put the items away in her cupboard and said, "Why don't you go up and take a shower, Drake? You can grab some of my brother's fresh clothes before you go to do your shopping. I'll have your wand by tomorrow night, if all goes well. Did you want Dragonscale in the wand? Didn't your last have Dragonscale, from your father or something?"

A dinging noise caught both Draco and Raven's attention coming from another room somewhere. Harry heard footsteps moving purposefully toward the room where Drake and Raven were, and a too-familiar voice called out, "Raven? Raven, where are you?"

Raven seemed to let out a breath she probably didn't realize she'd held. "I'm back here," Raven called before muttering to Draco, "Sheesh, I almost thought it was the Ministry of Magic coming to raid again. They did it twice this summer already, confiscated half my stuff."

Draco hissed back, "Yeah, well, knowing you, you've got several hiding spots they haven't got a clue about. You never were one to keep things in one spot."

Raven smiled innocently, though it seemed _too _innocent. "Why, Drake, you wound me so badly to accuse me so. But you're not all that innocent either and we both know it."

A stretched moment of silence followed her words, and then all-too-soon Kagome had entered the room. Harry was grateful for the fact that there was a plant on the window sill, or they would have surely noticed him by then.

"Raven," Kagome started, "I'm here for that wa—" she trailed off, staring at Draco. Then, she smiled tightly, though that smile was less-than-happy. "You have company. Sorry to barge in so suddenly."

Raven looked startled, because Draco was also thin lipped as he stared at Kagome. "Higurashi," Draco sneered in a voice similar to what he reserved especially for muggle-born witches and wizards—or, Mudbloods as he called them.

"_Malfoy_," Kagome's cheeks turned pink with her fury. Harry wondered how the two knew each other, but something inside him enjoyed the fact that his enemy seemed to be Kagome's enemy; they did always say, 'Enemy of my enemy is a worthy ally,' didn't they? Disregarding the fact that Harry was sure he had the saying wrong, and he had no clue who 'they' were, his instincts told him that there was a long, boiling sense of hatred beneath those cold tones. Somehow, both Draco and Kagome managed to make saying a name sound like a death threat.

That was somewhat unnerving.

Raven asked the question boiling in Harry's mind. "Uh, you guys know each other?" She looked back and forth between Kagome and Draco as if expecting one of them to suddenly pop like a balloon filled with hot air.

"_Know her_?" Draco sniffed haughtily, "Malfoys do _not_ make a habit of associating with pathetic waifs like _her_."

Kagome growled at Draco and almost looked ready to pounce on him and beat the crap out of him with her bare hands. But if anything, this confrontation made Harry think more and more that Kagome was on the side of good, since Draco was most certainly on the side of evil.

"You _imp_!" Kagome hissed, "You better watch your mouth, 'cause I'm transferring to your school this year. We'll be seeing a whole lot of each other, and I hope you know that too!"

Draco laughed his infuriating laugh, the one he always did when he seemed to know some deep secret no one else had access to. However, he seemed to decide to indulge on telling what he was humored by for once. "I doubt that, seriously, I doubt that. There's no way a stray like you could ever be sorted into Slytherin. Besides," he smirked smugly, "if you try pulling any of your _stunts_, **I am a prefect** and definitely not afraid of making you pay the consequences." He turned abruptly toward the door and Harry had to quickly duck out of the window.

Draco added as footsteps came nearer to the door, "I will return later, Raven. See that you have what we discussed in a timely fashion."

Harry knew he couldn't stay where he was, but he also knew that running was risking being caught. However, it was his only option, for he would be caught if he stayed. There was nothing nearby to hide behind. So, he hunched low so he wouldn't be seen in the window and made a break for the main street. He was able to disappear into the crowd just barely in time.

Panting, Harry made it to the lunch meeting place in time to see Fred and George getting ready to go back to work. At the sight of him, they both blinked in confusion. "What happened to you, mate?" Fred asked.

"You look like Christmas came early but you got someone's decapitated head," George added.

Harry debated telling the two about what he'd heard and seen, and then decided against it. He would be seeing Hermione and Ron in a week. He would itch until then to tell someone, but George and Fred weren't the ones to tell. Knowing them, they'd probably launch some new product into the world of jokes that would totally destroy Malfoy for his disdainful attitude toward Kagome.

Wait, that wasn't an issue at all! In fact, that would be a benefit, if anything.

Still, Harry hesitated. He didn't exactly know _why_ he did, but something kept him from talking. Whether it was his conscience (damn Gryffindor attitude, didn't his conscience _know_ that the sorting hat wanted to put him in Slytherin?) or whether it was something else, he had no idea.

Harry shook his head. "Had a run-in with Malfoy," he admitted, not wanting to lie to his friends. "Sort of got me in a spot of a mood. Think I'll go to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite."

George shrugged. "Well, if we see him, we'll hex him for you," he promised.

"And if you see Kagome, why don't you take her to lunch," Fred added.

"Yeah," George said, "she didn't show for lunch either. She'll probably be hungry."

Harry agreed he would before moving through the crowd.

-

Trust Draco Malfoy, most arrogant, egotistical, sadistic bastard Kagome had _ever_ been privileged to meet aside from Naraku of course, to ruin her perfect day. Kagome had finally made enough money for the tailored uniforms she would need—the last of her school supplies that she had to buy—so she had taken the time needed to be fitted for the school uniform and robes at Madam Malkin's.

After that, she had been on her way to pick up the wand Raven Ollivander had been working on for two weeks for Harry Potter at Kagome's request. Of course, _that_ was when the day which started out with a simple toast breakfast turned sour.

She'd met that… that _imp_… He appeared to know Raven. According to what Raven had told Kagome after Draco had gone, Raven had been in her seventh year at Hogwart's when Draco first started. With both of them in Slytherin, and Raven being a prefect (which Kagome assumed was an honor student of some sort, not having gone to the same school—or even in the same country—she didn't know all the terminology that well yet), she had helped Draco and his friends a few times when they had trouble on their potions assignments.

Since then, they corresponded off and on, mostly when Draco needed advice or homework help, Raven had said.

And Draco… no, _MALFOY_, had been at Raven's shop, slightly disheveled and more handsome than she'd remembered him being six years previous. However, she could hardly miss who he was. No amount of separation would ever make her forget him. He was just such a bastard!

_I can't believe the nerve of that guy_, she thought as she stormed through the streets with a small, simple, gift-wrapped box in her arms. Raven had said that even though she was a Slytherin, she simply couldn't take the jar of Mebana powder for just one wand, and she'd given Kagome a rather pricy wand cleaning kit to go along with it. The wand was stowed neatly in the kit, and the kit was wrapped up like a Christmas gift.

_Six years,_ she thought, _six gods-be-damned years, and he's still as pushy as he was before!_ She screamed mentally. _Wrong,_ she amended, _he's worse! I can't believe him!_

Oh, she definitely remembered him. She pushed her way into the Leaky Cauldron, her lips pursed tight and her eyes narrowed. "If he thinks he's gotten away with it," she grouched as she mounted the stairs to her rented bedroom, "he's got another damn thing coming."

As the door closed behind her and she sat on her bed, she forcibly turned her thoughts from _that arrogant prick_ and over to a new line of thinking. How the heck was she going to present the wand to Harry? It wasn't like she could just walk up to him and say, "Hey, Harry, I just wanted you to know I took the liberty of stealing the guts of your wand from you and had a new one made. I hope you don't mind, and if it doesn't work for you, can I please have it back? It's worth a fortune, and I could use another couple sets of robes."

Yeah, he'd probably go for that… NOT!

_Think, Kagome, think_, she told herself firmly. _There has to be a really good way to present this, without him feeling upset that I stole from him in the first place. I just have to think of that way, and then I can act on that._

* * *

**Oh my, you guys are devoted! Thanks! **

**So, just a few more issues need to be talked about** before I finish up. First and foremost is the pairing of this story. Gods I had so much trouble writing this chapter at first because I kept changing my mind on the pairing. And so, you all know that Kagome was going to be paired with Harry to begin with when I started writing and posting under my other penname. Then I took the story down and when I brought it back, it was going to be a SessKag. Then I started changing my mind, and was going to pair her with Harry. Then, for simplicity's sake, I was just going to do a triangle (yeah, "simply" put I need my head checked) between Harry, Kagome, and Sesshoumaru.

Then, I hit myself over the head and read a few HP fanfictions. And then? Stupid Draco has to be so ungodly cool in some of the fanfictions I've read that I was near sobbing. At that point, I was almost ready to throw in several geometrical shapes not previously known to mankind just so Kagome could still be paired with Harry as the story had originally been intended in the original version.

Long story short, my muse looked at me in exasperation (or perhaps more accurately, she would have been looking at her monitor in exasperation, but whose monitoring details here?) and so the geometrical shapes were out and I had to struggle to decide who to pair Kagome with. Finally, I decided Sesshoumaru was out of the question, since a crossover deserves a crossed pairing.

I asked my muse what she would rather read, Draco/Kagome or Harry/Kagome, and she said DK, so this will be (and let's just hope I won't change my mind again) a Draco/Kagome story. Now, I'm sure you're curious as to who Harry will be paired with? Well, I stumbled on a realization that an OC originally intended to be paired with Ron would work better for the hot four-eyes, not to mention it will cause quite a commotion when word-of-mouth gets out that Harry is snogging this certain someone. My muse knows who this someone is, who she's related to, and why it would cause such a big fuss, and she may even be laughing at my brilliant genius right now.

Either that, or she's shaking her head and thinking I need to lay off the sugar after only three hours of sleep in 48 hours. I'm starting to think that as well, and that I was insane for staying up all night reading HP fanfiction. Continuing on then, since Ron was going to be paired with the OC but no longer is, I suppose Hermione (originally intended for Draco) and Ron can get together.

So, for those who didn't read that lovely explanation put above, here's a summary of the pairings:  
Draco/Kagome  
Harry/OC  
Ron/Hermione

Keep in mind, this is a BOOK 6 REPLACEMENT. The Canon HBP Harry pairing is Harry/Ginny, but that pairing sort of gives me a headache. I guess I just like troublesome pairings. They make my headache go away... Of course that makes entirely logical sense.

**And lastly, I got 22 reviews, so I'm requiring _at least_ 22 reviews on this chapter before I update again. Yes, I know it got shorter, but it was just such a good cutoff I couldn't resist, and next chapter will (or should) take place on the Hogwart's Express, and not to mention the sorting. Kagome's gotta go into a house, right? **


	5. Platform 9 ¾

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha" (what the hell? I've apparently been putting "Inuyasha-sama" this whole time...) universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter five: Platform 9 ¾

Harry had watched Kagome as she stormed through the pub part of the Leaky Cauldron toward the stairs that led up to the rooms. By then, after her being a temporary resident of the Leaky Cauldron for two weeks, most people knew to stay out of her way when she was as upset as she was. Of course, even if they happened to _not_ know, there were always people who were kind enough to warn the idiots to stay away.

For example, Ritchie (son of the owner of the Leaky Cauldron), was currently warning several witches not to worry about 'the girl who just stormed through—it's intimately more trouble than you want'. The matronly looking witches hesitated, but didn't follow the steaming angry teenager upstairs.

Harry caught a glimpse of the slight box wrapped in parchment in her arms before she drifted up the stairs. The parchment had the word "Ollivanders" in random places, as though the parchment was meant to be wrapping paper for Christmas, even though it was just ordinary brown parchment with black loopy letters.

Harry had to admit, he was a little unnerved by her behavior. People very rarely got away with calling _the_ Draco Malfoy by anything other than his rightful name, and sometimes people didn't even get away with calling him by name either. There had always been a driftwood comment or two floating around Hogwarts that some first year had said, "Hello, Mr. Malfoy," to Draco on one of his bad days and received a free pass to the hospital wing for it.

Still, though he was a little unnerved, that didn't make him any less amused by how she and Draco had gotten along. Anyone who was against Draco Malfoy couldn't possibly be evil, could they? For the time being, he had decided that she was a good person instead of dwelling and spitting on himself over the issue. Merlin knew how many nights of the past two weeks he spent up late at night, wondering if that would be the night she would come to off him on Voldemort's orders.

Although his better judgment told him to stay away from Kagome while she was in a peaky mood as she was, he finished up his dinner and allowed his tray to be taken away from him by Maria, the inn's hostess and barmaid. "Can I get you anything else, Mister Potter?" Maria asked with a shy giggle.

He looked up at Maria and smiled at her, an action that he found usually got him better, quicker, and all around more _efficient_ service from the dallier. "Yes, Miss Maria," he nodded. "Do you think I could get a tray of food to go up to the rooms? Perhaps some milk as well?" He'd taken notice that Kagome preferred milk over butterbeer.

Maria shifted her hips slightly uncomfortably, looking toward the stairs in which Kagome had just recently disappeared. "Er, Mister Potter, this wouldn't happen to be going to Miss Higurashi's room, would it?"

"Yes," he nodded. He supposed the girl must have seen Kagome storm by if she was that apprehensive.

"Begging pardons, Mister Potter, but I'd, er, well, rather…"

He reached out and took Maria's hand, willing her to look at him. The physical contact surprised her and she looked at him. He grinned, "I'll risk her wrath, Maria," he assured her. "You could just bring me a tray. How's that?"

Maria smiled gratefully at him. He knew she didn't want to see Kagome in a fit, but she also could have been reprimanded by her boss if she didn't provide excellent customer service (room service was a provided service in the Leaky Cauldron). Aside from that, Harry was a nice guy and he didn't want Maria to suffer punishment on his behalf.

"If you're sure," she said. He nodded to show he was quite sure, and released her hand. She blushed prettily before heading off to get the tray. He sat back in his seat, staring at the fire that was across the room. His thoughts drifted; Kagome had provided an excellent distraction, keeping his mind off of Sirius's death.

He still didn't want to accept the death. His information on just _how_ Sirius could have died was incredibly vague. After all, he just fell into a piece of cloth! What. Exactly. Killed. Him? Other than, of course, Bellatrix Lestrange being an evil, sadistic witch who sent Sirius through that veil with some form of curse or another.

He shook his head as Maria brought out a tray with fresh baked bread, a bowl of hot stew, and a tankard of milk on it. He couldn't help but finally let his mind wander now that he'd finally decided Kagome wasn't evil. But he was about to head up to a (most likely) very P.O.'d girl, and he needed no add-on baggage such as thoughts.

"Thanks, Miss Maria," he told her, and she giggled and made sure her hands touched his as he was given the tray. _Girls are so weird._ He thought.

He headed up the stairs to the room he knew was Kagome's. It was hard to forget which one was her's… after all, he'd only broken his wand in Kagome's room! And come to think of it… he was still paying for her rental fees… why was he doing that again? Er, maybe he should mention to her that she owed him for the room fee?

Then again, he had plenty of money… it wasn't like he was going to go broke any time soon. Plus, it wasn't like he was paying for a Death Eater's room, was it? The thought nearly made him laugh and drop the tray, but the laugh was more nervous. He carefully balanced the tray in one arm and knocked with his free hand.

The knocking earned a yelp of surprise from within, and the sound of something slightly heavy being dropped. "Kagome?" he asked. "Kagome, are you okay? Can I come in?"

"Uh, uhm," Kagome's voice came out nervously, and somewhat panicked. What was she doing? "Er, I'm, um, Harry, just a minute… I'm changing? Yes, yes, I'm changing. Um, I—if you just give me—two second—" there was yet another thud. He presumed she had fallen to the floor and an image came to his mind of her hopping around attempting to put on socks and then tripping over one of the random things in her room (random, such as her bed – and yes, he had noticed she was excessively clumsy sometimes).

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

"N-no, I mean, yes, sure I am," yet another thud, _What is she doing?_, "Ow…" he strained to hear her muttering, "Okay, you know you can't be seen, just, be careful…" Huh? What… didn't he just figure out that she was not evil?! _That sounds ominous… 'you know you can't be seen…' Just what is in there? Or who?_

Another thud, and a few seconds passed and Kagome threw the door open, wearing _exactly_ what she had been wearing when he'd seen her pass through the tavern downstairs a few minutes previous. _How incredibly suspicious, yet awkwardly unsurprising… How many of those school uniforms and silk over shirts does she have?_ He really hadn't seen her wear _anything_ other than those school uniforms from the Magic Academy.

"Ah, Harry!" she beamed at him, throwing him off slightly with her cheerfulness. One of her knee-high socks had fallen around her ankles and he could see her knee was slightly banged up. He was very surprised she was in a good mood, considering the way two minutes ago she had been practically seething within flames of anger. "What are you doing here? I really, _really_ didn't expect to see you…"

He offered the tray. "Care to let a guy in?" he grinned at her. "I'll give you food."

She instantly moved out of the way, grinning straight back at him… well, actually, that smile was more reserved for the food. He took the tray and set it down on the desk, watching as she hobbled over, _Did she bash her knee good, or what? That's a mighty bright bruise,_ and she sat down gratefully. "Thanks, Harry! You know, my best friend and you would get along really well. He's always trying to take care of me too. Did I ever tell you how good of a cook he is?"

Harry shook his head and pulled over one of the fireplace chairs, since each room seemed to have a fireplace and two chairs. He sat down on it and watched her eat, resting his elbow on the armrest and his chin on his hand. "Nope, you didn't." he admitted.

"Oh, he's an amazing cook." Kagome said as she picked apart her bread and began chewing on it thoughtfully. "He's terrible at Potions though. We both think it's funny, 'cause I can't cook but I'm good at Potions, and he can cook but he couldn't make a Potion if someone threatened to destroy the world's Ramen industry."

"The what?" Harry asked, confused.

Kagome blinked at Harry and blushed, "Oh, sorry. Ramen… it's a sort of soup, instant made. It's muggle created. My best friend _loves_ Ramen. He'd _worship_ Ramen, if it were a deity." She'd come to start using more English terms such as "muggles" too, since she'd been staying rather than Harry scrounging his mind for the translation of "Atarimae no Hito" and all that.

"What'd you do to your knee?" he asked her, pointing at the blue-purple bruise that was forming.

She blushed yet _again_. "Oh, me, being me and all, thought it was a good idea to forget I'd taken my shoes off, or rather, _where_ I'd taken them off, that is." She pointed to the offending items and pushed more bread in her mouth. "See, I wouldn't have this problem if I were back _home_. We kept shoes by the front…" she trailed off, a look of pain on her face.

He wanted to change the subject before she thought about it too much. He knew that thinking of home was something of a painful subject for her because her family had been killed by a big, bad evil guy who was quite likely Lord Voldemort (although he wasn't quite sure seeing as Japan was a whole world away practically and there could be more than one person who called themselves the Dark Lord).

"So what does your best friend think of you staying here in England?" he asked her, "Or doesn't he know yet? I thought you mentioned something about trying to get a hold of him." He hoped the subject he'd chosen was a safe one and that she wouldn't get sad over it.

It appeared to work, because she began jabbering something about finding a bird that could travel such a long distance and also come back. Hedwig was out of the question, she had said, though he was sure the snowy owl wouldn't have any issues with flying halfway across the world.

As she talked, he thought about the box he'd seen her with and his eyes swept the room, looking for it. He didn't see it, so he assumed it was simply shoved in her trunk like the rest of her supplies. What could she have needed from Ollivander's though? She already had a wand…

Speaking of which, he _really_ needed to stop putting off going to Ollivander's. He _needed_ to see if his good, trusty old broken wand could possibly be repaired. Most likely it might not be able to be, and he would have to get a new one entirely. Still, he had to stop procrastinating.

However, he wanted to avoid Malfoy, and there was more than a likely chance that Malfoy would be going back to see that Raven character (a Slytherin working at Ollivander's?) so he would just put off going for a wand until tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully whatever the heck Draco was up to would be over with, and he would be gone.

"Hey," he said, suddenly interrupting her, noticing the disappearance of something…or rather, _someone_. "Where's Kiyoshi?" he really liked that cat—demon—creature…whatever. It liked to curl up on him, and it wasn't annoying like Crookshanks was. Usually when he was present, Kiyoshi had taken to curling up on him, and it amused Harry to no end when Kagome would start waggling her finger at the cat and calling him a traitor.

Really, who scolded a little kitten anyway? They were just too cute…

Of course, this kitten was special. Kagome had said when Kiyoshi was fully grown, he would be able to transform into a giant cat almost as tall as a horse and ten times more dangerous than a panther. Yet, in an untransformed state, Kiyoshi wouldn't grow much larger than he currently was.

"Oh, Kiyo?" Kagome squeaked somewhat nervously. "N-nowhere, I mean, he could be anywhere, right? I mean, under the bed, in my trunk, um, he'll come up to bed later…"

He raised an eyebrow at her. She wasn't telling him something. But it was just a cat… Then again, Scabbers was just a rat… For now, he decided just to let it slide. "Okay," he said, dropping it.

_Kagome is not evil,_ he reminded himself. _Malfoy is evil, and she doesn't like Malfoy. That makes her a good person… wow, that sounds really naïve when I think of it that way… I can't really picture _anyone_ whose met Malfoy who actually liked him, good _or

"Anyway," she said, sipping her milk. Her food was gone. Had he been there long enough for her to eat all that? "Can I tell you something, Harry? Something, er, confidential?"

He nodded, and opened his ears properly to hear her. It sounded important, and he didn't want to miss whatever it was she had to say. "Sure, Kagome. You can tell me anything." That sounded like the sappiest line he'd ever read in any romance novel (and yes, Harry had plenty of experience with romance novels, since he used to sneak his Aunt's romance novels before he'd even known about Hogwarts. He needed _something_ to do while stuck in the closet under the stairs) but he said it anyway.

"I get a bad feeling about this school year. Whenever I think about it, I, well, I'm really nervous. I've never been out of Japan in my life, and the only school I've ever been to is the Magic Academy. I grew up with mostly the same people in my class from age four until the end of last year, and so I never really needed to make new friends since we were all friends from our childhood. What if people don't like me? What if I offend someone? What will I--"

He smiled at her and interrupted her nervous interrogation. In that moment, more than any other considering most of his other moments were spent wondering whether she was evil or not, he almost felt as if he were her older brother or something. "People are going to love you, I'm pretty sure about it." _Well, maybe not the Slytherins,_ he added mentally, recalling her earlier altercation with Malfoy. "And as far as offending someone, really, you don't need to worry about that. Me and my friends pretty much offend people on a daily basis, and Fred and George? When _they_ were in school, they could literally offend people in their _sleep_! Plus, I'm your friend, aren't I?"

He thought that might actually be what the entire conversation was about. She was worried about not making friends, worried that she'd be alone as she came into Hogwarts. Heck, _he_ had been somewhat worried when he was going to Hogwarts. It had been the first time he would be somewhere without the Dursley's breathing down his neck and he had been able to make friends on his own, but he had worried about all the mean things Dudley had said: that he wasn't worth having friends.

"Really?" He nodded at her hesitation. "Thanks, Harry." She polished off her milk, a smile on her face. "Will you tell me more about Hogwarts?" He nodded again. He didn't really care to get back to Fred and George's yet, since that would mean only one thing: Potions. He _really_ had to get that assignment done. Dang Snape! He was out to get Harry, and he was doing it in such a sadistic manner… Never minding the fact that Harry wasn't the only one to get that assignment.

"How do you get to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"We'll board the Hogwart's Express at King's Cross Station in London. The train goes to Hogsmead Station, and I'm not sure, but you might end up going with the first years across the lake with Hagrid." Harry replied. At her questioning look, he said, "Hagrid's the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds for Hogwarts, and he's also the Care of Magical Creatures professor."

"Oh, but why boats?" Kagome asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. The rest of us travel in carriages pulled by Thestrals that pull us to Hogwarts."

Kagome shifted slightly uncomfortably in her seat at the desk. "I hope I don't have to go in a boat," she muttered.

"Why?"

"I have no problem with water, if that's what you're thinking. Just… being in a boat makes me real sick. The way it rocks back and forth, and then I always feel like I want to vomit… My friends all agree that 'ill green' isn't a good look for me."

Harry chuckled and started getting up from his seat. "Well, I'm not sure how they'll take you to the castle." Where had the time gone? It was nearly dark out. "Anyway, I've got to get back and really get going on my Potions assignment. Snape'll ring my neck if it's not done."

Kagome gathered up her tray, apparently intent on taking it back down to the common room, but Harry took it from her with a grin. "I'm on my way out anyway, might as well." he told her, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Harry."

"Do you want me to send up dinner?" She'd taken so long to eat her lunch, he was curious if she was even hungry now. But she shook her head. "Alright, then. Tomorrow, for breakfast?" He wondered if she'd come to breakfast with him and the twins or not, but she shook her head.

"I'm going to stop by the post tomorrow and see if there's any delivery birds there that can stand long distance travel, but definitely for lunch tomorrow."

He nodded and left her room with the tray. She closed the door behind him and he listened at the door for a minute, leaving only when he heard a satisfying "Thud" in the room. "Oomph!" he heard her moan. "Honestly! Shoes do _not_ belong in bedrooms!" she griped.

She was a weird one alright, but… at least now, he was sure she _was_ an all right person.

-

"Harry," Fred and George said cheerfully as Harry used the key the twins had given him to their shop. He was nearly scared out of his wits having the two seemingly jump out of nowhere, but he should have known them better than to politely make themselves known.

Really, how many years had he known them?

"Er, hi guys," he said. "What's for dinner?"

Fred shrugged. "Donno. Verity's cooking tonight, so I recommend take-out. What say you, George?"

George paled, as if he hadn't known. "Sounds lovely, Fred, I'll just grab my coa…"

A shout from the boy's kitchen stopped George in his tracks. Their assistant's voice drifted out to them, "George, don't you dare!" Verity always referred to them as "Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley" while working (thoroughly confusing, since they were twins, and all) but while out of work she called them by their first names. Verity sort of seemed more like Mrs. Weasley if Harry had his impressions right. In fact, Mrs. Weasley had _really_ liked Verity. "And Fred, if you dare encourage Mister Potter to leave, I'll box your ears."

George gulped. "Right-o," he said. "Um, well, then it's probably a roast, judging by the smell." Then he whispered lowly, "A _burnt_ roast."

Harry laughed. "Well, you didn't hire her for her cooking skills. You hired her to manage your accounts and keep an eye on the store here if you're not around."

Fred moaned, "Yeah, but we didn't think we were getting another mother in the process!" only confirming Harry's suspicions that Verity was much like their mother.

Harry laughed at the twins. "But you didn't," he told them sincerely. "Your mum can cook! _Big_ difference."

They joined his laughter, at least until a magically propelled spoon flew out of the kitchen area of the upper apartment and whacked the twins on the head hard enough to warn them not to make fun of the cook. Then the spoon dropped to the floor with a clatter, and Harry's laughter turned toward the boys. Really, he was glad they had come to get him. He really wouldn't have lasted much longer at the Dursley's with only his thoughts of his lost Godfather to accompany him.

George said, "I don't know _why_ we said she could stay at our apartment. I mean, I love you and all, Fred, but I'm tired of sleeping with you."

Fred made a mock look of offense. "There's always the couch, love," he said and sniffed haughtily. Then, as if he'd just remembered something, he said to Harry, "By the way. Malfoy stopped by the shop today."

"He did?" Harry asked. The three men switched locations, moving into the living room to sit in more comfortable chairs. Harry was grateful for another excuse not to start on Snape's assignment.

George nodded. "Yeah, he did. He was limping pretty bad, and it was weird too because…he looked…" George trailed off as though he didn't know how to describe Malfoy.

Harry finished, "Like something chewed him up and spat him out?"

Fred nodded his agreement, and George said, "Yeah, that sums it up pretty good. Face was perfect as usual, though sort of muddy, wasn't it, Fred?"

"Mhm," Fred said thoughtfully. "We weren't going to allow him to purchase anything, but Verity had already taken care of the sale by the time we noticed him."

George replied to the unasked question, "He placed a really huge order for our Nosebleed Nougat—you know, the Bloody Nose Candy we made?" At Harry's nod, George continued, "Since Verity already promised the order, we're going to have to deliver it. Honestly, we _really_ don't think we can go back on it, since Malfoy _is_ a Malfoy."

Harry could understand where the twins were coming from in their hesitation. Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, was a Death Eater. If they could avoid getting into trouble with a Death Eater, it would be better for everyone, and Harry really didn't want to lose Fred and George because of some stupid little order for a specific Skiving Snackbox treat.

"I wonder what he's going to do with one hundred Galleons worth of Nosebleed Nougat, though." Fred pondered. "Could cause quite a bit of hell, I suppose, but…"

Harry frowned. "I don't know," he admitted, and that bothered him.

They fell into thoughtful silence for a moment, before Fred and George grinned from ear to ear and began talking about all their future plans for the joke shop, at least until dinner was called. On Verity's command, work was _not_ a subject at the dinner table, and her presence really dimmed the boy's will to talk much at all. So they basically said nothing, and after dinner, Harry retreated to his room.

He was surprised to find Kiyoshi curled up on his pillow… beside the box Harry had seen Kagome with earlier. On his entrance, Kiyoshi lifted his head up, peering through one crimson eye before looking about as guilty as a cat could possibly look and jumping out the window.

_Is this who Kagome was talking about? Did she tell Kiyoshi not to be seen? Er, what's the box?_ It was undoubtedly from Kagome, but what was in it? Again, obviously something from Ollivanders. Kagome had left no note, and he was only guessing on that, but it was likely (assuming she _had_ been talking to Kiyoshi earlier) that she didn't want him to know that it was from her.

And, how exactly did Kiyoshi even _get in_? Really, that creature was a regular Houdini, because he had that window closed and _locked_ earlier. "Hmm," he muttered, sitting down on the bed.

He reached for the package, quite positive it was from Kagome. But why would she have something to give to him? And if it was from her, why didn't she just _give_ it to him herself? He was really sure Kiyoshi had brought it. Again, he had the absent thought that what if Kagome really was evil, and she was just really hiding it well? If she was evil, she was doing a great job of convincing him otherwise.

"May as well open it," he muttered and tore the wrap off. He had no thoughts whatsoever come to him as he was opening it that it might be hexed or cursed or something. On the inside, he found a really fine looking box engraved with the words, "_Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC_." Then, beneath that was the words, "Custom Wand Cleaning Kit," in bold, rather than swish lettering.

He blinked. Maybe Kagome was secretly trying to hint that he really needed to get going on getting a new wand?

Curious as to what a wand cleaning kit comprised of, he released the latch on the box and opened it. The first thing he saw made his jaw drop. There, in a wand seat that seemed made especially for the wand, was a wand made of a strange blood-colored wood, polished to _shine_ enough that it almost mirrored his reflection.

He knew he really shouldn't be touching it without knowing who really gave it to him, and what their true intentions were behind such a gift, (it could only be Fred and George or else Kagome, as they were the only ones who knew he'd broken his wand but he was sure it wasn't Fred or George) but he couldn't stop himself from reaching out and taking it in his hand.

It felt so _perfect_ in his hand. It was eleven and a half inches long, but he didn't know what wood it was made from. He took out the broken wand to compare it, when he noticed for the very first time that the phoenix feather was gone from his wand. He gulped slightly before theorizing that… Kagome must have taken the phoenix feather, and she had it put in the new one.

Where was he coming up with such crazy ideas? But, the wand seemed to hum in his hands, almost as though it wanted to tell him it knew him. He didn't dare try flicking it, for fear that he was confronted by the ministry for using magic underage. He just knew the ministry would love to peg him on whatever they could.

_I'll take it to Dumbledore when I get to school. Or Professor McGonagall. One of them will know what to do,_ he thought. He knew he hadn't reacted the same when they took away his Firebolt to test it, but things were far more serious to him now. People were _dying._ They were dying to protect _him_ and he wasn't going to let those deaths go to waste.

He shut the lid on the box, latching it and not looking further at the contents, almost afraid to.

He placed the box on the top of his trunk and crawled into bed, definitely not up for any homework, and the rest of the night was spent staring at the box. He didn't get much sleep.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait until he got to school to talk to Dumbledore, since the old wizard actually found him instead, showing up at breakfast the next morning. Harry had just been sitting down in a little café with Fred and George when the old man appeared and took a seat at their table, ordering a cup of chamomile tea and nothing more.

Needless to say, the three were surprised to see him. "Good afternoon boys," he said.

"Morning," Fred corrected the old man. "It's morning, Sir."

Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly. "Ah, so it is, so it is. I see you two had no trouble in finding Mister Potter, hm?" Fred and George shook their heads. "And, did you make sure he knew you were you?" Both boys blinked, then paled and hastened to apologize. "Ah, no harm done. You _did_ give him the charm, correct?"

"Yes, Sir," George seemed glad to be able to answer something properly. Harry had forgotten about the charm they'd given him to wear around his neck the night they picked him up. Of course, he supposed the charm was meant to be forgotten about, but supposedly it was supposed to keep parasites like Lord Voldemort from entering his mind and figuring out his location. That of course did nothing to protect him from whether or not a Death Eater may have seen him, and reported back, but either Voldemort wasn't ready to confront Harry yet so hadn't come for him, or else he had decided he didn't particularly care that Harry was still alive.

Either way worked… of course, then Harry recalled Kagome and wondered absently if maybe she was a plot to get Harry closer to Voldemort? But at the same time, he thought he'd already gone _through_ that whole schpeal? Kagome wasn't evil, and he had decided that didn't he?

"Most delightful," Dumbledore chuckled. Harry had an incredibly random thought, wondering what it was about old men that made them chuckle so much. "Right then, Mister Potter," he turned his attention fully on Harry as Harry drug himself from his mind. "I apologize for waiting so long to come to you. But… Perhaps we could speak privately?"

Harry didn't even get to eat his breakfast yet, though somehow Dumbledore had already drank his tea. Harry didn't even see it come! "Uh, sure…"

Fred and George moved to get up as Harry and Dumbledore did. Dumbledore waved for them to sit down. "Ah, you two should definitely eat your breakfast," Dumbledore said as a means of dismissal.

Harry sighed. "I'll catch up with you guys later." he said. With that, Dumbledore and Harry left. Harry caught a sidelong glance at the old man as they headed through Diagon Alley toward wherever it was Dumbledore was taking Harry. They stopped in front of a neat little townhouse in a small residential part of Diagon Alley. Dumbledore let them in, and Harry had a sudden thought, and he voiced it, not moving into the darkened interior of the building.

"Wait, how do I know _you're_ who you say you are, or rather, who you look like?" Harry asked him. Dumbledore gave him an amused look, his dark blue eyes twinkling with merriment. Harry felt foolish for asking, and ducked his head as his face burned. "I mean, you gave Fred and George a speech about it, right? Shouldn't _you_ follow your own advice?"

Dumbledore chuckled yet again. "Indeed. Ask me a question, Harry and I shall dutifully answer."

It took Harry several minutes to come up with something suitable to ask Dumbledore that no one else might know, but finally he came up with a question. "What do you see in the Mirror of Erised, Sir?" he asked.

Dumbledore looked momentarily surprised but then he chuckled for the hundredth time and said, "I see myself, holding a pair of thick woolen socks. Is that satisfactory, Mister Potter?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Then, do come in."

After several moments of awkward silence waiting in the living room where Dumbledore had left Harry, Dumbledore returned with a box in his hands. He set the box on the table and opened the lid. Inside was a parchment rolled up and sealed with the Black's family crest in red wax. Harry knew instantly that this had to do with Sirius's death.

"Mister Potter… Harry, Sirius named you his sole heir. As you know, this affects us directly in the Order of the Phoenix because _that_ place," Harry knew he meant number 12 Grimmauld Place, "is our Headquarters. I was going to come to you sooner, but I ended up busy elsewhere in the world. But this has been put off too long, and to ensure that Headquarters remains uncompromised by the Dark, we must do this."

Harry sighed. He had known something like this was going to happen, at least subconsciously he'd known anyway. "What do I need to do?" He just didn't want to accept Sirius's death. It would make it all that much more final, and he wanted to _avoid_ that.

"I need you to take this and read it. It's Sirius's final letter to you. After that, we have to call Kreacher… If Kreacher will take orders from you, we are assured that you have inherited the house as per Sirius's final wishes."

_Great, this sounds like it's going to be peachy._ Harry thought.

Carefully he opened the letter, but before looking at its contents, he looked up at Dumbledore. "Um, Sir?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Harry?" he asked kindly, taking a seat in a rather plush piece of furniture.

"I, um, broke my wand." Yeah, great way to start _that_ confession…

Dumbledore chuckled, as if he knew all about it all along. How could he have though? He said, "Might it be safe to presume you received another?" Harry nodded, _Oh, he's good at guessing,_ he thought. "And the core of your old wand was missing, was it not?" Harry again nodded. "And you're worried this new one is hexed?" Harry nodded _yet again_. "You need not fear. I am aware you received that wand." Almost as if he himself had the wand made… Wow, Dumbledore really _was_ one of the greatest wizards ever!

-

September 1.

WHOOOooooOOOOooOOT!

The sound of the trains preparing to leave King's Cross Station did not go unnoticed by Harry _or_ Kagome as Fred and George led the way to the proper platform. Kagome looked with something of annoyance around her, itching her legs as the uniform skirt (which was considerably longer than she was used to being that this uniform skirt went down to below her knees and her old uniform only went to about thigh-length) irritated her flesh.

"Well, this is _clearly_ the wrong place!" Kagome said almost hysterically. She pointed at Platform 9. "Nine!" she yelled. She pointed to Platform 10. "TEN! Where the hell is 9 ¾?! Don't Europeans know how to count? Or is this some sort of practical joke you Weasleys are playing on me?! I'll never get to school, and," she glanced around her and spotted a clock, nearly screeching in pure terror. "AH! It's 10:47! The train is leaving in less than fifteen minutes!"

George, Fred, and Harry snickered at her. She made an even more amusing sight than Hermione Granger did, one of Harry's closest friends, when Hermione thought she was going to be late on an assignment, or when she missed a class. But, all good things had to come to an end, so they figured they better calm her down before Harry and Kagome really _did_ miss the train.

"Kagome," Harry said, tapping his shoulder. "The Platform is right there," he said, pointing to the blank wall between platforms 9 and 10.

Kagome looked where he was pointing and then gave him a withering glare. "Ha, ha. Funny, Harry."

"Actually, that's really it, Kagome." Fred said. "Like we told you, the Muggle world and the Wizarding world are separate here in England. Muggles don't know about the Hogwarts Express. So, that wall is a barrier to keep the Muggles from seeing it."

"Oh…" She blinked and then glanced down at the carrier her little demon cat was in. "I, guess so," she said slowly.

"Right," George said. "So just run really fast at the wall and you'll go through."

Kagome glared at George as if he'd just told her to jump off a bridge. "Run - at - a - wall?" she asked him. "THAT'S A SOLID WALL?!" she yelled.

Harry sighed. "Okay, well, _I'm_ going to school." he walked quickly with his luggage cart, Hedwig inside the cage perched atop it, and… then he disappeared, leaving Fred and George behind with Kagome. Kagome was gaping at the very solid looking wall across the place. People passed by it every day and didn't seem to notice that Harry had disappeared through a brick wall.

"See? There's your trip to Hogwarts, platform 9 ¾ is just waiting." Fred said. Kagome gulped, and glanced at the twins. Then, without warning them at all, she took off running with her trolley and…

WHOooOOOoooOOOOOooooT! "Last call for Hogwarts! All aboard!!"

Kagome rushed toward the train, grabbed Kiyoshi from his carrier (much to his displeasure to be handled roughly), and kicked open her trunk. A second later, Kiyoshi's carrier was thrown roughly in her trunk and the unreliable latches were back in place. She kicked the trunk, because she was frustrated, as any reasonable person would be for transferring schools at age sixteen, and glanced around for Harry.

He was nowhere to be seen, so she couldn't ask him for help getting her stuff on the train. However, Fred and George were there and they picked up her trunk and carried it onto the train for her. "Thanks, Fred, George," she said gratefully, following them. "But I thought you guys weren't coming to school this year."

They grinned at her with Cheshire smiles. "No, we're not, and we'll be getting off," Fred said. There was something more to those smiles… She knew trouble when she saw it. After all, she was friends with some of the biggest mishaps ever to walk the earth.

They set her stuff down in the hall; she would obviously have to find a cabin on her own. But moments later, she was engulfed in a huge double-hug, and Kiyoshi scratched his way out of her arms. "Eek!" she squeaked, and the twins laughed.

"We'll see you again, Kagome," George said. She was blushing _furiously_ when they planted identical kisses on her cheeks before they dashed off the train, and a girl behind Kagome snorted in distaste.

"Stop plugging up the way," the girl snapped. Kagome didn't know where Kiyoshi had run off too, but she hoped he hadn't gotten off the train. However, with people trying to board behind her, she had to grab an end of her trunk and start dragging it. She tried to find a compartment that had an open seat, having no idea where Harry had traipsed off to, and found one nearly completely empty save for one person.

She slid the door open and asked as politely as possible, "Um, do you think I can sit here?" she asked the girl.

The girl was a beautiful blond, Kagome noticed. Her hair was as long as Kagome's was, down to her waist, and hung in beautiful golden curls. Her lashes framed the most gorgeous green eyes, curving handsomely. Narrow brows arched over her eyes and her sharply angled nose, full, pink lips and high cheekbones gave her something of an imperious air. Even sitting down, Kagome could tell she was well-endowed and quite shapely, definitely not in any way fat.

She wasn't wearing the school uniform, but was wearing a dark green hooded sweatshirt that matched her eyes perfectly, and a pair of faded blue jean shorts that showed off more leg than Kagome's old school uniform skirt seemed to do on a windy day. On her feet, instead of the uniform shoes like Kagome was currently wearing (she was unsorted so she didn't have a tie yet, as the tie would match the color of her house, and she didn't have the house patch that would go on her uniform jackets and shirts), the blonde wore what looked to be the most _painful_ footwear known to mankind. Black leather, knee-length boot stilettos, with four inch heels. It was obvious that beneath the black leather shoes, she wore black fishnet as it wrapped all the way up her thighs and disappeared beneath those painted-on shorts.

The girl would be tall already without the heels, Kagome could tell, but those shoes added on so much more to her height! She wore makeup sparingly, a light green eye-shadow, a bit of lip shine, and had a rosy tint to her cheeks that was debatable whether or not it was natural.

As she stood up, Kagome bit her lip, feeling so _small_ in comparison. Granted, she wasn't a terribly tall person. Harry was a few inches taller than Kagome. This girl would only be an inch or two taller than Kagome if she took the shoes off, but dang, those heels added a lot onto her stature.

The girl smirked at Kagome. "Sure, let me help you with your trunk." she said. She walked over and slipped out the door with an ease Kagome hadn't known would be possible what with those dangerous heels and all. The girl didn't have any trouble at all with her end of the trunk, and together they got the trunk into the luggage compartment.

"Whew," Kagome said, sitting down in the seat opposing the girl, grateful to have a window to look out of. "I thought I'd miss the train."

"You're not a first year," the girl said. "You're too old." She said it airily like she was pointing out a fact.

"Oh," Kagome felt yet another blush come to her face, but wasn't sure why she was embarrassed. "Um, I'm a transfer student from the Magic Academy in Japan." she said honestly. She leaned forward in her seat and held her hand out to the girl. "I'm Kagome. Kagome Higurashi."

The girl took her hand and shook it, saying, "Chaviah. Call me Chavi." She didn't offer up a last name, but Kagome figured it wouldn't matter. Eventually she'd have to find out, because could she possibly go to school with a person and not know? Her mind argued that, yes, she could, but she was usually an optimist and ignored that. "I'm a sixth year." she said. "What year are you transferring into?"

"Oh, um, let's see here," she dug into the pocket of her blazer and took out the letter that had her school supplies check list on it. It contained additional notes from the administrators of Hogwarts, so she read over those again, not wanting to be inaccurate. "I'll be transferring into sixth year, but a couple of my classes will have higher expectations for me, it says. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I suppose I'll be finding out soon enough."

"It means you have a greater talent in some areas, but not enough to warrant pushing you up a grade." Chavi said knowingly. "You'll probably be expected to get O's in all your classes."

"Oh's?" Kagome blinked in confusion. "Is that, um, a grade?" She folded up the letter and put it back in the blazer pocket.

"Outstanding," Chavi said. "O stands for Outstanding, and it's the highest grade you can get."

"Oh, I see!" Kagome said. "The Magic Academy doesn't have grades. You either receive a Pass, or a Fail. If you Fail, you have to take the class again. If you Pass, you move to the next level." She sat back in her seat as the train began to whistle one last time and started off. She wondered where Harry was, and looked at the platform out the window. Families were waving to the children they had sent off. Children were waving to their parents as well.

She felt a wave of homesickness hit her but quenched it and placed a hand to her chest where her curse lay beneath the blouse of her uniform. "Homesick?" Chavi asked. Kagome could only nod as the compartment door opened. She didn't look to see who it was though. She figured Harry must be on the train, but she had hoped he would sit with her. She had grown quite fond of him.

"Chaviah," a deep, somewhat silky voice intoned, confirming that it was not Harry, and it was not anyone wanting to see Kagome. She could feel eyes on her but didn't look back. She stared out the window stubbornly as the other person sat down in the compartment. "Have I ever told you how impressive those shoes make you look?"

"Oh, dear heavens, with the shoes, Blaise," Chavi sighed in exasperation, shaking her head a little as far as Kagome could see out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I'm not the only girl who wears shoes."

"No, but you're the only girl who can wear shoes like _that_ and still walk like a human being." The man, Blaise, said. Kagome knew by the fact that there was movement coming toward her that Blaise had shifted from Chavi's side of the cabin to her side, seating himself beside her. "And who is this fine young girl, most assuredly worthy of my attention?"

Kagome felt her hand being grabbed and turned to level a confused stare at the character. "That was, if anything, the most egotistical statement I've heard all day." she said to him, and he laughed.

"So tell me, your parents," he smiled winningly as Kagome appraised him. He was definitely tall, but not wiry. He had broad shoulders and handsome black skin, with high cheekbones and slanting, dark eyes. He wore the school uniform already, and a green tie, with a patch of a green serpent on a silver shield with green around the shield and the worlds "Slytherin" embroidered across the top of the shield sewn onto his jacket and the left breast pocket of his dress shirt. "Were they Muggles?"

Kagome blinked, not entirely sure why it mattered, or why it would basically be the guy's opening line. However, she saw no harm in telling him. "My mother was a, um," she scrunched her face up in concentration, trying to think of the best possible way to translate her mother's profession, "well, I suppose healer works out well enough. I'm not sure what you'd call those here, but I do know that the translation of my father's job would be an Auror here. They were a witch and a wizard, if that's what you're asking, though."

She was, of course, talking about her adoptive parents—those who gave her last name to her. She didn't know very much about her real parents, only that her mother had been in an abusive relationship and trying to run from it. She _did_ know that Lily Evans had been a witch, but that didn't really mean anything since there wasn't a law against witches and wizards befriending non-magical people, and not every witch or wizard went to a magical academy for their primary schooling.

"Beautiful," he grinned broadly, and kissed her knuckles. She was thoroughly confused by his behavior, and why it was important what her parents were. She vaguely recalled Harry telling her the night before that he wanted to explain to her the different houses before they got to school, but they had never gotten around to that conversation, and now she didn't know where Harry even was, or indeed, if he was even on the train. "What's your name?" Blaise asked her. "I am Blaise Zabini."

"Kagome Higurashi," she said automatically and tilted her head in a sort of bow. She always felt awkward bowing while on a train. With such small space, trains really weren't designed for Japanese formalities, and she actually was becoming grateful to substitute it for a less formal pleasantry.

He released her hand, but not before winking at her. "So, are you a first year?" he asked her. He hadn't seemed to make the same astute observation that Chavi had made, but Kagome always knew she didn't look her age. In fact, there were countless times when her eccentric grandfather would take the family out to eat and try to pass Kagome off as a twelve year old so he could pay half-price for her meal.

She scratched her knees again, in very much disagreement with the skirt constantly brushing against them. She was incredibly unused to such contact. In the winter, she and the rest of the girls at the Magic Academy wore leggings under their skirts to keep their legs warm and their bottoms covered in strong gusty winds, but they always had the short skirts. She began wondering if she would get into trouble for altering the length of the skirt, and decided trouble or not, she probably would do just that.

"Um, a transfer, actually," she told Blaise truthfully.

He seemed very interested to hear that, and he inclined his head slightly. "Transfer, hm? Where are you coming from?" He leaned back in his seat, obviously comfortable to sit next to her. She couldn't say she minded. His attitude reminded her a lot of her friends back home; he seemed like the arrogant, vain type, much like her friend Kouga.

"The Magic Academy in Japan," Kagome told him.

Chavi was the next to speak up as she drawled, "Blaise, why are you in here? You know perfectly well I don't want your company."

Blaise pasted an innocent smile on his face… a smile that was _too_ innocent. "Aw, Chaviah, why ever would you not want me in here?"

Chavi opened her mouth to, most likely, send a retort at him, but as she did, the door opened again and two rather bulky guys came in. If Kagome were to describe them, she would easily call them both by an interesting name she learned from her best friend's remarkable vocabulary. "Baka" would sum both of them up rather neatly, she thought. Like Blaise, they were wearing patches for Slytherin on their blazers and dark green ties.

The two boys took seats next to Chavi who swore violently before crossing her arms over her busty chest. "Crabbe, Goyle, go _away_." Chavi snapped.

The two boys neither responded to Chavi's order, nor did they look like they heard her. Blaise laughed and held out one hand to Chavi. "Baby, you could _always_ come sit on me. The heavens all know I'm _more_ than good looking."

Chavi snorted heavily out of her nose. "I don't even want to _know_ the logic behind putting those two sentences together, Blaise." However, despite the rude tone she spoke with, Kagome could tell that Blaise and Chavi were on something of friendly terms. Looking back out the window, Kagome watched as the scenery passed her by. She didn't offer her name to the two dull looking boys who had just entered the cabin against Chavi's orders. They didn't look like they'd remember it anyway, and they didn't seem curious enough to ask.

Blaise chuckled and winked at Chavi. "Well, you know me. I'm just stocked full of compliments." Kagome wondered if he realized his statement sounded more like an ego boost than anything, but didn't mention it. He seemed like a pretty decent guy, even though he was rather vain. He turned to Kagome again and asked, "So, what grade are you transferring into?"

"Sixth year," she told him without looking away from the window. If Harry was on the train, would he have bothered to come looking for her? Or did he get left behind? Kagome looked at Chavi and Blaise with a sudden thought of inspiration. "I have a question… could you guys answer it?"

"You just asked one, but shoot for another," Chavi said with a smirk that seemed characteristic for her.

Kagome blushed in embarrassment, but quickly tried to hide it and said, "I was told I had to be _sorted_. What does it mean to be sorted?" She did have a bit of an idea. There were different houses for all the students, but she hoped they would explain further what happens when she got sorted or what she should do to be sorted.

Blaise and Chavi shared a strange look, before Blaise flashed Kagome a smile filled with pearly white teeth. "It means you take a test to be put into one of the four Hogwarts Houses."

Kagome's eyes went wide at the most evil word 'test'. "I have to take a _test_?" she demanded, feeling sick to her stomach already. "But I haven't _studied_ yet! I don't even know what the subjects are! It's not Algebra is it? I'm really bad at Mathematics, and, eek! What happens if I fail!" The four students were all looking at Kagome as she stood on her seat, reaching up to her trunk. She struggled with her latches for a minute. "It could be on anything! I'll just have to study _everything_ and…"

She heard laughter from Chavi and Blaise and looked at them both. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed probably because the other two were, but they honestly didn't look like they knew why they were laughing in the first place. "Oh, that's rich!" Blaise said. "The transfer student's a regular _Granger_." He said the word with an equal amount of distaste as he said it with amusement. From him, it was almost as if the word were an insult, and that was how Kagome took it.

She turned to look at Blaise, throwing her lip out in a pout and glaring at him. "I'm so sorry if passing is important to me." she said without sincerity. "Where I come from, failure is _not_ an option. The term used here, I believe, is _Squibs_, and where I come from, failures have their magic locked away and become _Squibs_! Obviously you European folk don't care though, or you'd be more selective of the students accepted into Secondary Magic Schools."

Her speech heralded a moment of silence and then Blaise smiled a true smile and looked more appraisingly at Kagome. He said, "Alright, then, the test isn't anything you even _could_ study for. You put a shoddy old hat on your head and it tells you what house you'll be in. Really, there's nothing more to it than that."

Kagome blinked and then sat down, a look of disbelief on her face. "I knew you European people weren't right in the head." she muttered. "Really, a _hat_ will decide my fate?" Immediately after that, "And this whole house thing. I don't really understand that. What does it matter if I'm in one house or another? It's just where I sleep, isn't it?"

Chavi was the one who took up the explanation. "Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor are the four houses of Hogwarts," she said. "I've come to theorize that the Sorting Hat sorts us into the house it believes will help us develop the best into what and who we can become."

"What do you mean by that?" Blaise asked Kagome's next question for her, but she really did want to know. "The hat just sorts people. Why do you always have to put meaning behind everything?"

Chavi rolled her eyes. "Because, you twit, not everyone will fit _only_ the criteria for one house. Personalities develop differently in everyone. You could have Slytherin and Ravenclaw qualities--like me, or like you, be simply a Slytherin type."

"What are the types and qualities?" Kagome asked.

Chavi went on to explain, "The Slytherin qualities that I believe matter most to the hat are ambition, cunning, resourcefulness, and determination. Qualities like intellect and wit are the primary sources in the personality that the hat looks for to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff," Blaise interrupted to mutter, 'Bunch of morons,' but Chavi ignored him, "qualities are hard work, loyalty, tolerance, and fair play. And Gryffindor values courage, nerve, and chivalry."

"Gryffindor is also a bunch of," Blaise started, but a look shot at him by Chavi cut him off.

"Some of those qualities sound like what my friends always say I'm like." Kagome told them. "And I know some of those qualities describe my friends too. But you said those don't exactly matter in what the hat chooses in the end?"

Chavi nodded. "Exactly. For example, I could have as easily been put in Ravenclaw as I could have been put in Slytherin. I could have also been put in Hufflepuff," Blaise interrupted again to mutter, 'You're too much of a skank to go _there_,' and was yet again ignored by Chavi, "because I possess similar qualities to all three houses. I believe in loyalty, from Hufflepuff, I possess a high level of intellect, from Ravenclaw, and I am very ambitious from Slytherin."

"So how can the hat decide where you should be if you have all those qualities?" Kagome asked.

"Because aside from looking at those qualities, the hat also looks at how you may grow and mature. Personalities will change over time, and it looks more at the long range spectrum. My theory is that the hat will look at your personality and place you where you'd be best able to learn the things you need without too much of interference from adults. Since we are, as a curious whole, not always monitored by adults, the hat had to find a way to put me so I had to grow and learn to live on my own feet instead of relying on everyone else." Chavi glanced at Crabbe and Goyle, "Although…" she said while looking at them, "I could be wrong. These two haven't developed at all from their previous pig-brained states."

"So, you're saying it doesn't matter what house you're put in?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't put it that way," Chavi said as Blaise laughed at Chavi's insult to the two beefy boys. "What house you're in will largely influence your interaction with those members of other houses. As such, if you are in Gryffindor, you will likely not interact with Slytherins in any manner of friendly, as our two houses are the school's biggest, most pronounced rivals, and vice versa. However, rivalries set aside, that also does not mean you _cannot_ be friends with those from other houses. I, myself, happen to be closely acquainted with many Ravenclaws."

"Oh, I see!" Kagome nodded her head thoughtfully. "Well, that really clears things up then. See, I thought at first, Slytherin wasn't a house I'd want to be in, because I actually sort of met someone in Slytherin and we don't get along well. Since I know what _he's_ like, I thought it wasn't going to be a place I'd want to be. But now that I've met you both, and after that explanation, I think I understand he's just an insufferable imp."

Chavi and Blaise both laughed again. "You'll have to point him out," Blaise said with good humor. Kagome smiled; she was glad was able to talk to them about it. Not long after that, a kindly old witch opened the door, a trolley cart filled with snacks not far from her.

"Would anyone like some sweets?" she asked merrily.

Kagome waited until the others were done raiding the cart before moving forward to look at the sweets. "Um, what's good?" she asked the others, hoping to get their recommendations. "The only European sweets I've had since coming to England were the Weasley's Skiving Snackboxes, and honestly, I'm hoping for something that will cause a better reaction on my body."

The two intelligent members of the cabin snickered slightly, so Kagome assumed they knew of the Skiving Snackboxes. The Weasley twins had given Kagome enough of those to last her for quite some time as a 'Going to School' gift, but she doubted she'd have a reason to try getting out of class. "Try the Pumpkin Pasties," Chavi said.

"Chocolate Frogs are better," Blaise said.

Kagome fished out her rather thinning money pouch and purchased one of each. "Alright," she said warmly as she sat down. "Oh!" she smiled, "I completely forgot about those. I have sweets from my country! Maybe later, if we see each other, I can let you taste some of my country's sweets." she promised them.

Blaise sent Kagome a winning smile and they all unwrapped a sweet. Kagome decided to go for the Pumpkin Pasty first. Chavi asked Blaise as Kagome ate, "Where did you three put your trunks?"

Blaise shrugged, "Pansy's compartment. I couldn't stand her for another minute though. I mean, really? If _I'm_ vain," Chavi snorted lightly as if to say, 'You are,' but Blaise paid her no heed as if it were a normal occurrence to be insulted by the blonde, "I don't even want to _know_ what they call _her_."

"One thing is shallow." Chavi said. "Dear mother of Merlin, she's betrothed and yet she's got a new boyfriend every week of the year." She glanced at Crabbe and Goyle. "You know, Blaise, I think those two are actually _stoned_. It's that, or someone hexed them; not even they are ever this quiet for this long." Blaise blinked at the two boys. They were indeed looking rather dazed, and not in a natural, dreamy daze either.

Kagome started on the Chocolate Frog, surprised to find there was a little card inside it. **ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**, the card read. She saw a picture of the professor on the card. He looked like he was sleeping. "What's this?" she asked Blaise.

"Oh, Frog Cards," he said. "It's a collectable set. Each Chocolate Frog has a card in it. It's hilarious using them in a game of Exploding Snap!"

"Exploding Snap? I've never heard of that game," Kagome said.

Blaise smirked and took a small card deck from his pocket. "It's about time you learn, Lady Asian," he chuckled and shifted from the seat to the floor, indicating that she should do the same. He looked at Chavi, "You want in?" he asked her. "I can deal three; my deck's a double."

Chavi shrugged and shifted to the floor, crossing her legs like a pretzel. Kagome folded her legs more maidenly beside her so her uniform skirt didn't show off anything she didn't want it to. Blaise sat with his back against the seat.

"Okay," Blaise said as he dealt out the cards to all three of them. "The game isn't hard. You know how to make a card castle, right?"

"A card castle?" Kagome asked, proving that she didn't have any idea what he was talking about.

Blaise made a triangle out of two cards, standing it up on the floor, then right beside that, made another triangle, on top of which he put a card like a platform. On top of that platform card, he made a third triangle. "A card castle," he explained, waving one hand at it before disassembling it.

"Oh, I think I can do that," she said. "So, we just built a castle then?" at his nod, she asked, "And it's called Exploding Snap because…?"

The dark man grinned. "That, my dear, you will have to find out." He grabbed one of his cards and held it at an angle for a few seconds. When he pulled his hand away, the card remained standing at the angle it was without falling down. Chavi built a triangle with it using one of her cards. "Alright, Miss Higurashi."

"Kagome. You can call me Kagome," she told him with a bright smile. She did as the boy had done, holding the card for a few seconds before carefully releasing it. The card she had set up had been a Chocolate Frog card with a picture of some strange English witch on it.

He beamed at him. "See, Chavi? I knew I was too sexy for women to resist my charms." Chavi snorted. They continued stacking the cards, building up the card castle with a deck made of Exploding Snap cards and Chocolate Frog cards. The castle began to tower at a height where all of them had to kneel to place their cards before suddenly…

SNAP! The castle exploded, cards flew every direction, and the faces of the occupied Chocolate Frog cards were terrified by the manner in which their card was being used.

"AIEE!" Kagome squeaked before falling backward in surprise. Chavi and Blaise immediately started laughing.

"Isn't that peach?" Blaise asked. "No other way can you get those Frog cards to react! Want to go another round?"

Kagome gulped. "Um, I think I should use the bathroom before playing again, or I might need to change clothes with another fright like that." Blaise and Chavi laughed again at her.

Chavi said when she could control herself, "Go out this door and walk left. Girl's lavatories are on the right."

-

"Harry, are you feeling okay?" Harry glanced at Ginny Weasley (Harry's best friend Ron's little sister). As a matter of fact, he wasn't really okay. He was more than worried. He'd gotten on the train and found Ginny, Neville Longbottom (another sixth year Gryffindor), and Luna Lovegood (a sixth year Ravenclaw) sitting in a compartment together and decided to sit with them. He had expected Kagome would find him and sit by him, but she hadn't.

He knew she must have gotten on the train because he saw Fred and George join Mrs. Weasley on the platform without Kagome anywhere near them. He also knew the twins had planned on sticking by her to make sure she got on alright. So where was she? Why hadn't she come to find him?

"I'm okay, Gin," he told her, smiling at her a little. She appeared unconvinced but turned back to her discussion with Neville about her homework for Professor Sprout; Neville was the resident expert for Herbology in their compartment. Luna was reading an upside-down magazine, though he knew from his history with her that she most likely had a legitimate reason to read it upside down.

As usual, the magazine was The Quibbler, the magazine her father was the editor of. Harry also knew that if it were possible, The Quibbler would have pages that were inside out. She wasn't paying too much attention to the other members of the compartment, but every so often she would burst out with some newfound information on Purvogriak Groumaprifkrouts, whatever those were.

Harry returned to staring out the window. He hadn't said much since he'd sat down; his mind was mostly elsewhere as it had been for the last week since his visit with Dumbledore. He pulled his wand out of his pocket. Dumbledore had taken a look at it before he'd left, despite his insistence that it was from a 'reliable and dependable source, not to be confused with the Dark Lord's minions'.

Since it wasn't from Dumbledore—the old man had confirmed that it was not, but would not give Harry any clue who it was from, saying, "That, my boy, is for you to figure out."—Harry had no clue who gave it to him. He had shown it to Fred and George, but they confirmed they had nothing to do with it. Harry had been so _sure_ it had been Kagome after that, that he went right to her and thanked her. She had blushed profusely before claiming that she knew nothing about a wand being made.

That, of course, didn't exactly fit for him, since he'd seen her talking to that Slytherin named Raven, and Draco Malfoy had wanted Raven to make him a wand. That meant that Raven most likely could make wands. Plus, Kagome had come in saying, 'I came to get that wa—' so even though she didn't actually say 'wand', it was equally as likely that she was _going_ to before she saw Malfoy.

Another thing that assisted his suspicions was how Kiyoshi had been found on his pillow right next to the box! Coincidence? He didn't think so! But Kagome had denied all knowledge of the wand. She asked to see it, and said that it was 'nicer than she expected'.

What did she mean by that? Did she mean she hadn't seen it before she purchased it, or did she hold very little faith in English wands? She had smiled and said he was 'very lucky'.

Of course, Kagome and his new wand were hardly problematic in his mind anymore. He already knew the wand worked perfectly; it was responding even better than his old wand had. He'd tested it out on Crabbe and Goyle, Confunding them when Crabbe and Goyle shoved Ginny in the corridor outside the compartments and called her a Blood Traitor.

A lot of his thoughts circled around the carefully folded letter from Sirius, and his encounter with Kreacher the week before. Kreacher _did_ indeed take orders from Harry, but Dumbledore had said it was 'curious' that Kreacher refused to call Harry _Master_. Instead, Kreacher said Harry was 'Young Master'.

Still, why was that curious? What was the difference? Harry wasn't old enough to be a master anyway, even if that _was_ debatable. If he was old enough to be a threat to Voldemort when he was just one year old, who was to say he wasn't old enough to be a master at age sixteen?

Still, what was the difference between a Young Master and a Master to a house elf? He really wished he could talk to Hermione Granger about it, but she was off with Ron doing Prefect duties. Hermione and Ron were his two best friends in the world, and Hermione knew more about house elves than anyone Harry had ever met, except of course the house elf Dobby (who was considerably off his rocker).

Harry recalled Sirius's letter. It had been short and simple. "Dear Harry," Sirius had wrote, "I don't know what to say. If you're reading this, I'm dead. Don't feel bad about my death. I'm sure no matter how I went, even if I contracted some fungus that rotted off my feet and ended in my ultimate death, you'd still feel responsible. Well, stop feeling that way. Whatever happened, you should remember I'm a pretty reckless guy and so that undoubtedly contributed to my death. Anyway, everything I own goes to you. It's not much. Actually, I'm probably cursing you just giving it to you. The painting in the entry hall, for example. I've already made Kreacher aware that you are to inherit everything, so, that's really all I have to say. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you while you were growing up, and I'm really sorry about James and Lily. I wish they could have been there too. Love, Sirius. PS. It sounds corny to write love, being that I'm a guy. James must be rolling in his grave."

Harry stared at his wand again before sighing. Really, he should get up and go look for Kagome. At least, he should make sure she was on the train…

A cat jumped into his lap, making its presence known; Kiyoshi made himself comfortable then looked up with wide, innocent crimson eyes as though daring Harry to contradict where it wanted to sit. "Kiyoshi," he murmured, staring at it.

"What _is_ that?" Ginny asked breathlessly. "It looks like a _cat_ but it has two tails!"

"It's a demon cat," Luna said in her dreamy, knowing voice. She sighed happily. "I'll bet it's a fire demon cat."

Harry didn't even want to know how Luna knew that, but he supposed Luna wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing. "_He_," he said, correcting the girls' assumption that the two-tails was an 'it', "is the familiar of someone I met. He's really intelligent too, aren't you, Kiyoshi?" Kiyoshi purred and licked a paw. "Hey, Kiyoshi, is Kagome around? She got on the train, right?"

The cat glanced at him and seemed to do its equivalent of a shrug. "Is that supposed to be a yes, or a no?" Ginny asked, grinning from ear to ear. Harry thought for a moment. Kagome could have told him what the cat meant, but of course, that would have defeated the purpose of asking the question at all.

"I think it's a yes." Harry said definitively. "But I should probably check for her any—"

Neville groaned, looking at the box he had been keeping his pet toad Trevor in. "Trevor's missing! Can you guys help me find him?"

It was the others' turn to groan. But Harry figured he could poke around for Kagome in the meantime. Luna stayed behind, in case Trevor came back, and the other three split up to search. Kiyoshi climbed up on Harry's shoulders, curling around his neck. In his search for Trevor, he glanced in one of the cabin door windows; Kagome wasn't present, but he doubted she'd be in that one. Blaise Zabini was in there, along with Crabbe, Goyle, and a blonde girl wearing muggle clothes that he didn't recognize.

Of course, that wasn't all that surprising. He didn't know many of his year mates except those from Gryffindor by default and he had a very limited knowledge otherwise. He did know some people from 'Dumbledore's Army' from fifth year, but the school was fairly large and housed many students.

There were no other members of that compartment as far as he could see, so he moved on. After he'd received word of Trevor being found, he returned to the cabin with Luna. He hadn't found her. Could she have missed the train? If so, she would doubtlessly find Fred and George right?

Needless to say he was still worried about her when the train finally arrived in Hogsmead Station. After hastily putting on his uniform and his robes, he followed his friends out of the train and onto the platform where he could hear the distant shouts of Hagrid, calling for the first years.

"Harry!" he heard Kagome's voice and was relieved to hear her. She rushed up to him, a bright smile on her face. "Harry, I made some friends!" she said. He was glad to hear it, knowing how worried she had been about making friends. She looked around as though wondering where they went. "Ooh, there they are." She pointed at a carriage where Goyle was slipping in; Harry hoped he was mistaking where she was looking.

Kiyoshi jumped from Harry's shoulders into his mistress's arms. "Oops, I have to go. Some guy who said he was a boy head told me I had to go with the first years in the boats. I'll see you up at the castle!" She smiled cheerfully at him before bounding off toward where the first years were clamoring into boats, Kiyoshi in her arms.

He nearly moaned in misery. He _really_ hoped he was wrong and that she hadn't befriended a bunch of Slytherins. He hadn't had a chance yet to warn her about Slytherin house.

"Harry! Harry!" Ron and Hermione finally had a chance to catch up to him. Hermione looked thrilled about something. She said excitedly, "Harry, Hogwarts has never been more _honored_! We're getting a transfer student from Japan! Oh, Harry, isn't it _wonderful_?"

"Er," Harry said, but he was interrupted by Ron. The three of them went looking for a carriage; Ginny, Luna, and Neville had already left Harry behind as they went to greet more of their school friends (or in Luna's case, never really registered the others' presence to begin with).

"Forget the transfer student," Ron said, an equal look of excitement in his eyes, "I heard we've got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. They clamored into the carriage. "Ron, we have a new one every year! It's practically a cursed post!" she said, obviously anything but impressed. "New transfers, on the other hand, _aren't_ so common! I wonder what she'll be like?"

"'Mione," Ron wrinkled his nose in slight distaste. "What makes you think it's a girl?"

"Well it's obviously a girl because she'd have to have really good marks to be considered for transferring, and from my experience, men are all… _less_ than perfect." She said simply and, Harry thought, rather brutally. He felt crushed of his friend's opinion.

He didn't say anything about it though, and as they rode up to Hogwarts, his two friends began their customary bickering. He tuned it out, wondering to himself if he felt excitement or dread for the coming school year. His experience told him something bad would likely happen this year. Bad things seemed to follow him around, as well as a certain evil antagonist who wanted him dead.

Once they got in the entry hall, his eyes drifted toward the ridiculously tall, enchanted hourglasses that did not tell the time of an hour, but instead counted points in the shape of various gems: Rubies for Gryffindor were all that Harry really cared about, but of course, he did take note of the Emeralds in the hourglass for Slytherin. None of the hourglasses had any gems in the bottom half—yet. That would change all too soon, and Harry would likely end up making it so that Gryffindor lost several hundred before the end of the year thanks to his most favorite professor Snape—oh, how he loathed to wait another minute to meet Snape again.

Strangely enough, he did notice an odd man standing in front of the hourglasses, staring at them with a perplexed expression on his face. Hermione and Ron noticed him too about the same time that Harry had, and on a silent agreement, the three of them walked toward the man.

Harry took note of the man's weird clothing; he wore flowing fabric pants that looked like a dark blue silk, but the fabric, despite its loose appeal, was snug firmly just above his ankles, and his shirt seemed similar to the shirt Kagome wore all the time, though instead of plain dark blue silk, it was white silk with a printed pattern of what seemed to be dark blue vines crawling all about. The sleeves were just as flowing as Kagome's had been, though his shirt fit him much better than Kagome's which seemed ten sizes too big for her. A white sash tied around his waist, forming a complex knot at his left hip with the extra length of cloth hanging down as far as his knees. He had white, Asian, split-toe socks and wore wooden sandals that stood on two 2-inch stilts.

His raven colored hair looked like he'd never seen a day where he'd had 'bed head', cropped to just below his ear lobes. Pointed, elf-like ears stuck out of his hair, far longer than any normal human's ears, yet not as obvious as Dobby's ears had been. His pale complexion looked like he could definitely give Draco Malfoy a run for his money, almost looking like porcelain. He stared with the widest brown eyes at the hourglasses before shifting his thin form from one foot to the other. His fingers were clearly much longer than normal human fingers should be, being very wiry.

Even though he didn't look entirely human, he twirled a sleek wand in his fingers.

Before the three could even ask who he was or if he needed help, the man suddenly noticed them and Harry noted something else that was strange. He looked like he wasn't much older than them, probably around sixteen or seventeen years old. _Are there two transfer students?_ Harry wondered.

"You there!" he exclaimed, pointing at Hermione. "Explain these… these really tall _whatevers_!" he said, and that pointing finger turned its direction on the objects with which had confused him.

Hermione blinked for a second before instantly beginning a recital of everything she knew of the items, from what _Hogwarts: A History_ said to what Professor McGonagall had told them about them their first few days in Hogwarts.

When she was done, most of the students had already gone into the Great Hall and seated themselves. "So!" the stranger chirped, "These things count points earned and taken from houses?" Hermione nodded. "And anyone can give or take points from any house?"

"Only the authority figures, such as the Headmaster, the Professors, the Head Boy and Girl, and Prefects, although Head Boy and Girl, and the Prefects may not add or remove points from their own house, for obvious reasons." Hermione told him.

The stranger looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping on his chin with the tip of his wand before pointing at Hermione, then Ron, and then Harry. "What house are you in?" he demanded.

"Gryffindor," they all intoned, and pointed to the giant hourglass with Rubies in it.

The stranger nodded, and that finger returned to point at Hermione. "You there. Fifty points to Gryffindor for being so helpful!" he said. Hermione beamed, even though since school had not yet officially started, they couldn't get any points. Of course, her happiness was short-lived as the man pointed to Ron. "You there! Fifty points deducted from Gryffindor for your robes being skewed." Then he looked at Harry. "And you! Fifty points from Gryffindor for not bothering to comb your hair!" And with that, he stalked off into the Great Hall, leaving the Golden Trio to gape after him.

"Who the _bloody hell_ was that?!" Ron demanded. If they had been able to earn points, they would have been fifty points in the hole already and school hadn't even started!

Hermione sent him a scathing glare. "That, Ron, was most likely the new professor!"

"He's mad, that's what," Ron said. The three made their way into the Great Hall and took seats at their table. They could see the new Professor joining the others at the Head Table. "Oi, wait, who're they then?" he pointed to two other new people at the Head Table, one male and one female.

One had garments similar to the stranger who attempted to dock points from Gryffindor, only his were white with red cherry blossom patterns. The pattern looked awkwardly similar to that which was on Kagome's silk shirt. He was much taller than the stranger in the hall, even though that stranger had been taller than Harry by a head. He also looked rather young to be a professor, though he was definitely not entirely human. His eyes were a deep gold that could be seen from this distance even. His hair looked like silver gossamer threads and it fell beneath the table.

Maroon colored stripes were tattooed on his face, two to each cheek and leading to a point at the center of his face. His bangs curved around a perfect blue crescent, and his skin was slightly tanned but still had the same porcelain look that the other man's did. He was more muscular looking than the first man, noticed even despite the flowing garments he wore. His seemingly perfect lips were curled in slight distaste, revealing sharp fangs that matched his pointed ears in otherworldly.

The woman, surprisingly enough, looked sort of similar to Kagome. They had the same shape face, and the same raven colored hair. The similarities ended there, however. She didn't seem to have a smile as ready to her lips as Kagome did, her skin was a little tanner than Kagome's, and her eyes were noticeably brown, and more almond shaped like the two men's, where as even though Kagome's eyes were slightly almond shaped, hers were also wider than the usual Asian's eyes tended to be—not, of course, that Harry had met many, but it was a fact of the matter. The woman at the table had straight hair, also unlike Kagome's who had slight curls to her hair.

Out of the three at the table, the woman looked by far the most human. Her ears were rounded like every normal human's were, and she had a more human quality to her skin (it didn't look perfectly delicate). Her clothing seemed similarly flowing like the other two foreign teachers. The white top she wore, however, did not have any prints but was plain white. Harry couldn't see what her pants were like, since the table was in the way.

Already girls at the Gryffindor table were whispering about the three new people at the table, curious as to who they might be and wondering which of the two males were cuter. Harry was grateful for the time when the Sorting Hat came out and the first years all lined up in front of it.

Harry wasn't entirely surprised when it sang a song similar to his first year, but with a few added lines about 'being aware' and 'rising danger', but he did wonder where Kagome was. She wasn't with the first year line. Had he missed her sorting somehow? He looked around the Great Hall, but did not see her.

The first years were sorted, with several going to each of the four houses. Dumbledore then stood from his seat, waiting for the leftover cheering and congratulations to die down so he could make a few announcements. Once it was quiet, he said, "Good evening, Hogwarts students. I believe some of you may already be aware of this, but we still have one more student to sort. She is a transfer student from the Magic Academy in Japan; I trust you will treat her with the respect accorded to her, and show her a warm welcome as she comes i—" his brief introductory speech was interrupted with a loud KERBLAM!

Smoke was issuing out from beneath the closed door that led to the small anti-chamber that first years were always held in before the sorting. The door opened abruptly, the knob smashing against the stone wall. A girl, or more accurately, Kagome, fell out of the way, bending down and panting heavily as the entire Great Hall fell into complete and utter silence.

Kagome coughed several times before realizing she had an audience. She looked up, rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly as she stood up straight—her clothes slightly singed at the edges—and then she laughed nervously. "S-sorry," she said a sprinkling of red crossing her cheeks. "I got bored," she explained to the entire Great Hall (which was still completely silent), "so I was playing Exploding Snap…"

Harry knew what everyone was thinking. _Exploding Snap doesn't explode that bad._ He was thinking it too. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with good humor and he asked everyone's question. "And how did you blow up the anti-chamber, Miss Higurashi?"

Kagome turned so red, she could put a ripe tomato to shame. Again she laughed nervously, "Um, well, I didn't know adding a Dumbledore Chocolate Frog would have that effect when it blew the castle up. Honest!"

Most of the Slytherins burst into laughter. Students from other houses began chiming in after that as they realized what Kagome meant, and within no time, the whole Great Hall was filled with noisy laughter. It was several minutes before Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall managed to calm the students down.

When it was calm again, Dumbledore introduced Kagome. "Students, this is Kagome Higurashi, our transfer student. I trust you will treat her well and welcome her. For now, she needs to be sorted." He turned to Kagome and smiled warmly. "Miss Higurashi, if you would please step over here to the stool?" he waved at the stool with the hat, "Place the Sorting Hat upon your head. Once you have been sorted, you may join your house table."

The entire Great Hall watched her move with enormous anticipation. Harry thought continuously,

* * *

**Since half of you can't be bothered **to review, I won't post the second half of this chapter right away. Please, _please_, read the note at the end of the last chapter. It explains pairings. Hopefully you haven't left due to a pairing change! 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

I won't demand reviews for this chapter, but be warned: each review I recieve on this chapter will earn one-hundred (100) words for the next chapter. If you want a longer chapter, you may want to review... Hehe, that's cruel of me. Now, to go post on Koumajutsu...muahaha...?


	6. Sorting Hat

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha" (what the hell? I've apparently been putting "Inuyasha-sama" this whole time...) universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter six: Sorting Hat

When it was calm again, Dumbledore introduced Kagome. "Students, this is Kagome Higurashi, our transfer student. I trust you will treat her well and welcome her. For now, she needs to be sorted." He turned to Kagome and smiled warmly. "Miss Higurashi, if you would please step over here to the stool?" he waved at the stool with the hat, "Place the Sorting Hat upon your head. Once you have been sorted, you may join your house table."

The entire Great Hall watched her move with enormous anticipation. Harry thought continuously, Gryffindor, please be Gryffindor... He wasn't sure why it was so important she be put there, but it definitely would help a lot in determining whether or not she was evil... or... would it?

-

Kagome sighed and brushed her skirt off as she crossed the room. The edges were singed and it still irritated her knees to wear it, but now it irritated her knees even more. She honestly hadn't expected the deck of Exploding Snap cards to blow up like it did. Blaise had give her a plain deck of Exploding Snap cards and all the cards he'd gotten from the Chocolate Frogs from the trolley, saying it was a 'good will gift for a pretty foreign girl'.

He'd told her to test it out with different Chocolate Frog cards, and she had. Kiyoshi had taken off, incredibly affronted that his clumsy mistress would explode the deck like that. She didn't know where he was, but knew by nightfall he would return as he always did.

She stopped in front of the stool before looking back at the Head Table. For the first time, she paused as she realized just who was at that table, and her eyes met gold in a clash. But two seconds later, she turned her head away, grabbed the hat up, sat down on the stool and put the hat on her head. Hopefully none of the students had head-bugs.

_"Yes, a transfer…"_ breathed a voice in her ear, so soft she almost didn't actually think she heard it. _"It's been quite a few years since we've had a transfer student here at Hogwarts…"_ She said nothing, not wanting to respond to something she couldn't be sure was actually talking to her, although if it was it wouldn't surprise her.

After several very _long_ moments of excruciatingly painful silence, the hat sighed. _"I so hate sorting transfers… Let me see here… You would fit in any house, this much is true. But you're always protected; aren't you?"_ Again, she didn't respond to the whispered voice.

Kagome frowned slightly. Her bottom was getting sore on the stool as the hat took its sweet time sorting her. _"After much consideration, I believe… yes… they will push you to your limitations, as they are indeed fond of standing on their own. You must learn to protect yourself. With their help, you will be a _SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table erupted into tumultuous cheers and Kagome took the hat off with slightly shaking hands and made her way to the table, sitting by the first years. She was happy and relieved that it was over with.

Dumbledore smiled and eventually the raucous died down. "A few announcements before we eat; we have three new Professors this year, all from Japan and recent graduates of the Magic Academy there but with no less talent in their areas." Kagome glanced at them, recognizing Sesshoumaru and Kikyou, but not the third. She knew the third one wasn't human—he was probably an elf.

"Professors Sesshoumaru Tetsuya and Kikyou Sevina will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year." Dumbledore continued, "In light of recent happenings in the world today, I have enlisted the aid of Professor Ilyes Llywellyn to teach a select group of students who have achieved high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts in previous years a special study course.

"If you find Professor Llywellyn's class on your schedule, you will note that it is mandatory. A class book for the course may be purchased from Madame Pomphrey as early as eight o'clock tonight, but keep in mind that curfew is still at ten o'clock. Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that anyone out of their house after curfew will serve detention with him the following evening and that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students.

"If there are any questions, please speak with either a Prefect in your house, or your head of house. And without further waiting, I do believe we should eat before the food grows cold." The previously empty table in front of Kagome filled suddenly with food of all kinds; she even recognized many things from her home country. The other Slytherins began dishing food to themselves and chatter filled the Great Hall as everyone talked to their tablemates.

But she wasn't as hungry anymore, especially when she looked over and saw Sesshoumaru. She sat at the table, not eating, until the schedules were handed out. Clipped to Kagome's schedule was a brief note penned in Japanese. "Eat. I am fine. I am also engaged, so if you've decided to become suddenly anorexic to make yourself look attractive, it will not work. – Sesshoumaru."

_Oh gracious! He's engaged?!_ She screamed mentally. Well, there went her teen delusions that she and Sesshoumaru would make like rabbits and have lots of babies. On second thought, the baby part sounded painful anyway, so she decided against it. However, she was curious as to how he'd gotten himself engaged. As far as she knew, she was the only female who dared talk to him back home. Most likely it was an arranged marriage; who was the lucky girl? Was it Kikyou? Or did he leave his betrothed behind?

She giggled at the thoughts and glanced at the food after folding her schedule up and sticking it in her pocket to examine later. She knew what of her food she would like, so she started on it. For the first time in weeks, she felt comfortable. She wasn't completely happy, and it would be impossible to be so after knowing her family was dead, but at least she was comfortable. Sesshoumaru had relieved a heavy weight on her shoulders and he knew it.

She had been so worried about Sesshoumaru; he'd just had his arm lopped off and was close to death from blood loss when she last saw him. She had been afraid she had lost him. She worried about him; his health, his safety, whether or not he was even alive…

She glanced back up at the Head Table, pleased to notice that Sesshoumaru didn't seem as reclusive as he used to be. He seemed to be holding a conversation with a professor who looked pale and slightly greasy. That professor looked a bit like he'd just bitten into a sour lemon. Kagome wondered what his problem was before shrugging it off and by the time she had started on select desserts from her country, she realized the first years surrounding her were staring at her.

Kagome blinked at them. "Yes?" she asked them, but they continued gaping. She counted them, finding that nine first years separated her from the rest of the Slytherin Hogwarts students. Figuring that they wouldn't say anything to her, she decided to focus on her meal as she tried to recall what house Harry was in. Her eyes searched the Great Hall and she found Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table, wearing robes with a red patch sewn on. He was talking to several other Gryffindors, but was too far away to read his lips.

* * *

**13 reviews got you 13k.** This is how short chapters are when no one is interested enough to tell me they want more. 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

I won't demand reviews for this chapter, but be warned: each review I recieve on this chapter will earn one-hundred (100) words for the next chapter. If you want a longer chapter, you may want to review... again...


	7. Bad Slytherin

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha" (what the hell? I've apparently been putting "Inuyasha-sama" this whole time...) universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter seven: Bad Slytherin

After dinner, the first years were gathered up by Prefects of their equivalent house; Chavi and Blaise tracked Kagome down. Blaise smirked instantly upon seeing her. "_How_ did you blow up the anti-chamber again?" he asked her. She blushed and decided it would be more prudent to ignore him. She still smelled like smoke from the explosion.

Chavi smirked, her black robes hanging open to reveal the fact that she had changed into her uniform, but hadn't changed out of her stiletto boots or the fishnet leggings. Her blouse remained partially unbuttoned at the top to reveal bits of a lacy green bra and plenty of cleavage. Her green tie was loose around her neck and slightly askew, as if she hadn't bothered to perfect it, or had purposefully put it on wrong. Her skirt was the same length as the regular Hogwarts girls' uniform, but she had altered it so there were thigh-length slits up the sides.

"Come along, darling," Chavi said, slinging an arm around Kagome's shoulder and pulling her along after the trailing first years. "We'll show you to our Common Room, and get you settled in. Blaise?"

Blaise sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. "Well, if I must," he said loftily, as if he already knew what Chavi was going to tell him. "I am, after all, devilishly handsome and the perfect choice for the job, however." He scratched his chin thoughtfully before shrugging and weaving his way past other Slytherins to do who-knew-what.

"Twit," Chavi chuckled. "Hey, Kagome, let me see your schedule."

Kagome took her schedule out and handed it to Chavi, not bothering to remove the note from Sesshoumaru attached to the front. She doubted Chavi could read it anyway, and even if she could, it didn't really say anything important. Chavi flipped the note out of the way and glanced over the schedule before 'hmm'ing a few times. "What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Not that I should be surprised, but you've got that new class with the new professor on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning from four AM to eight AM." Kagome snatched the schedule, looking at it in disbelief.

"A class earlier than ten AM?" Kagome demanded, glaring at the offending time-block on the schedule. "In my country, classes aren't until _after_ breakfast!"

Chavi grinned. "That's usually how it is here too. We've never had a class before breakfast, but hey, things change."

-

Harry had tried to catch up with Kagome after dinner. He really needed to talk to her. He really needed to know why she had been put in Slytherin. The knowledge he had that Kagome was quite possibly Voldemort's daughter made his blood run cold when he heard the hat say 'Slytherin'. Was she evil? Yes, he had already gone over those issues and decided that she wasn't, but… What was it that Hagrid said? "There was not a bad wizard who wasn't in Slytherin…"

His logical mind argued against that; Peter Pettigrew was in Gryffindor and he defected. So what was there to say that Slytherins could not be good? Then again, Harry couldn't exactly recall ever meeting a Slytherin who was _nice_ to him, or even _civil_ for that matter. But he and Kagome had been getting along quite well before, so who was to say that they would not continue to get along?

But before he could catch her, two Slytherins had dragged her away toward the dungeons, following a streaming line of first years being led by Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was still limping visibly, but his appearance had changed drastically. He was cleaned up and had slicked back his hair to its usual state of perfection. He didn't have the bruises and cuts on his face like he did one week prior and of course only magic could have gotten rid of those so quickly and seamlessly.

As Kagome was dragged toward the Slytherin Common Room, Harry returned to his fellow Gryffindors with a troubled look settling on his features.

"Hey, mate," Ron said, catching up with Harry with a disgruntled look on his face. "Hermione told me to stop trying to help the first years. Can you believe her? It's not _my_ fault they're a bunch of babies who miss their mums. I mean, really, who busts down crying in the middle of the hall?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know," he said.

"You look kind of constipated," Ron said abruptly. "Did you eat some of that foreign food on the tables?"

Harry sent Ron a somewhat withering look. "I'm _not_ constipated," he told him. "I've just got a lot to think about." In a desire to change the subject, he asked, "So where were you guys on the train? You didn't stop by to even say hello."

Ron scowled. "Geez! Head Boy this year is Norman Fickler from Ravenclaw, and I _swear_ he's a miniature Percy!" He waved his hands around emphatically as he spoke, enough so that Harry had to walk a few feet to the left of his friend or risk being punched on accident by his tall, gangly friend.

Ordinarily, Ron and all the other Weasleys would not talk about Percy, even to insult him, especially since Percy decided he wanted nothing to do with the family and seemed to publicly rebuke them. That was why it was so surprising to hear the name come out of Ron's mouth. However, Harry was fairly quick at recovery and bounced back from the shock easily.

"Fickler practically talked all our ears off! I bet he would have even kept lecturing us all the way to the castle if Head Girl Beronica Long-Caulder hadn't told us we could go get into carriages. Long-Caulder's a Ravenclaw as well. But really, that was just _awful_. And that git Malfoy slept through the whole thing pretty much; Fickler wanted to wake him up, but he wouldn't wake up. It was like he was dead!" Ron said.

"Really?" Harry asked, wondering why Malfoy wouldn't wake up. His mind wandered to wondering what could have happened to Malfoy this summer. Inevitably that led to thinking about what had happened to _him_ this summer. As soon as Kagome had entered his life, things got inexplicably more active.

"Yeah." Ron said, sounding miserable. "Hey, mate, you know what? Why don't you take my Prefect badge? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore won't mind…"

Harry laughed and clapped his red-haired friend on the back. "Nah. Sounds like more trouble than I need, and believe me, trouble walks in my shadows enough as it is." Ron nodded miserably but said nothing until they reached the fat lady poster.

"Oh, yeah," Ron said, "so you know, the password is Pecan Pastries." Harry nodded then swore violently. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't get that Potions assignment done yet!"

Ron grinned. "I don't blame you. I just copied Hermione's when she was sleeping. Really, if I didn't need Potions class to become an Auror, I wouldn't be taking the class still. Do you want to copy mine?"

Before Harry could even nod, Hermione was behind the two of them. She had already situated the first years in their dormitories. "Ronald Weasley!" she barked, "Harry can do his own homework, just like you did!" That confirmed that she didn't know Ron copied her homework. Harry wondered how Ron did it and decided to ask him later.

"Now," she said in an imperious voice. They were used to Hermione's somewhat bossy personality, but not the very tiny hint of panic they could hear in her voice. "Now that the first years are settled, the three of us _need_ to go to the hospital wing."

Harry looked at his watch with a frown. "Hermione, it's only seven thirty," he began.

Hermione cut him off with a glare that would have killed a cactus. "We all need that book, so we need to get there before they're sold out! If I don't get that book, I'm going to go crazy! I can't believe I didn't know before hand about this!" She began pacing, and they decided that, for her sake, they should just go down to Madame Pomphrey's before she lost her mind. Their bookish friend had probably never taken a class in her life that she hadn't read the entire text (and memorized) before hand.

Harry knew that sooner or later, he would have to tell his friends about what he knew of Kagome and of what he'd seen and heard of Malfoy in Diagon Alley.

As they started down toward the hospital wing, he said, "So… that new transfer seems nice enough…" in hopes that he could take Hermione's mind off the fact that she'd have an entire book to memorize before tomorrow morning.

"Hmph," Hermione snorted lightly. "_Nice_ isn't what _I'd_ call her."

"I thought she was pretty," Ron said, but immediately blushed when he realized he'd said that aloud with Hermione present.

If Ron's comment did anything, it served to make Hermione more irritated at Kagome. "She's a Slytherin, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Now, if _that_ doesn't say anything about her, then what does?"

Ron didn't respond right away and by the time he finally had his answer for Hermione, they had arrived at Madame Pomphrey's. A few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had begun to form a line by the door, though there weren't many. "I don't know," Ron admitted finally, scratching the back of his neck.

"Really, Ron, how many Slytherins have you met that are even remotely civil? Even if she _isn't_ all bad _now_, give her a week under the Slytherin's tutelage and she'll be the female Draco Malfoy!" Hermione turned to Harry. He hadn't said anything about it yet, but now he knew he had to involve himself.

"She's not that bad," Harry found himself saying. Hermione looked somewhat horrified that Harry would say something like that about a Slytherin. She opened her mouth to protest, but Harry shook his head. He found himself wanting to defend Kagome; she had never given him a reason to doubt her good nature since he'd met her (except how she constantly called him a closet pervert).

Of course, she hadn't given him a reason to think she was purely good either. She was a female version of the Weasley twins when she wanted to be. Harry continued, "She really isn't, Hermione. I hung out with her this summer, and got to know her a little. She's not that bad," he repeated. He knew he would catch hell with that later on.

Hermione opened her mouth again to protest. Ron took this chance to point out, "Hermione! Madame Pomphrey's opening the doors."

* * *

**10 reviews got you 10k.** But since the reviews were received so quickly (I only updated 2 days ago), I gave the chapter a good cutoff and an extra 7k and will blame this update on clusterlizard1 for their honest review. Though I'm still a hypocrite and will still continue this bugging business. 1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you want a longer chapter.


	8. Slytherin House

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha" (what the hell? I've apparently been putting "Inuyasha-sama" this whole time...) universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter eight: Slytherin House

Kagome glanced at the low dungeon that was the Slytherin Common Room. It was indeed a dungeon, and was—according to Chavi—beneath the Great Lake that was housed in the grounds of Hogwarts. The first thing she noticed was the strange, split atmosphere of the dungeon. Any Slytherins in the room seemed to separate into two sides of the room. She counted sixteen Slytherins in the Common Room, but only three sat by the roaring fireplace, and they did so while sending heated glares and warning signs to the others gathered on the other side of the room. Likewise, those others didn't appear to have very much friendliness toward the others, thus resulting in a torn, split atmosphere that seemed more related to the _people_ within Slytherin than the actual House itself.

The entrance to the Common Room was a bare stone wall that, when given the password "Serpentine Dragon", would move out of the way and reveal a hole the size of a regular door. To the left of the entrance was a large hearth in which a bright fire burned, though it didn't seem to do much to ward away the chill that soaked the entire place. Furniture of all sorts was in the Common Room, all of it in the dark green color that the Slytherins seemed to have claimed. The walls had various green shaded tapestries and wall hangings, but the stone floor was bare and seemed to chill Kagome's feet even through her plain black uniform shoes.

The lighting in the Common Room seemed to glow somewhat green as well and it was sort of difficult to see. Two minutes in the Common Room made Kagome quite ready to crawl into a bed under twenty blankets until only her nose stuck out. Chavi didn't seem to mind the cold, but she noticed Kagome's discomfort right away.

"You'll get used to the chill," she said knowingly. "Come on though." She and Blaise pulled her over to a corridor leading off the Common Room; there were several different openings leading into corridors. "It doesn't really matter which corridor you take," Chavi said. "They're all connected, and they loop like the coils of a snake."

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked as they passed door after door with four name plates on each door. Some of the names engraved on the name plates were obviously feminine, some of them were obviously masculine, and others could swing either way. Next to each name plate was a key hole.

"Oh, we're going to find your room." Chavi said. Her heels clicked eerily on the stone floor and the further they got from the Slytherin Common Room, the quieter the hall seemed to become and the more the three Slytherin's shoes made noise and the fewer people there were.

Finally Kagome had to ask. "What's with the name plates and keyholes?" she asked, pointing at one door.

Blaise explained, "These corridors lead to each Slytherin student's personal quarters. The doors are enchanted to lead to four separate rooms. Each Slytherin has a key to their room, which gets inserted into their lock. While the key is in the lock, you turn the door knob and open the door." He pulled a keychain from a pocket, on which was several keys. One key's thumb-head had a snake engraved into it. "This is the room key. Without this key, you can't get in your room so you'd have to go to our Head of House, Professor Snape, to let you in if you lose it. He has a master key to all the Slytherin rooms."

Chavi continued as Blaise put his key away. "Your door will always lock once it closes, even if you're in the room, and the door will automatically close if no one is touching the handle. Knocking on someone's name plate will allow them to hear that you're knocking on the door. That's about it." They had rounded several turns before spotting a door with Kagome's name engraved in Japanese on a plate.

"That's mine," she said, pointing at it.

"What the hell does that say?" Blaise asked.

"My name," she said. She smiled and ran her hand along the scratches. "See?" She pointed to the fact that her name was also written in Roman lettering beside the Japanese. Kagome Tomas Higurashi, it read.

"Your middle name is 'Thomas'?" Blaise asked with surprise, mispronouncing it.

"It's pronounced 'toe-maas'," Kagome said. "It was after my father." She changed the subject immediately, not caring to talk about the father she had never really known. "How do I get in if I don't have a key?"

Blaise grinned and procured a key from his pocket identical to the one on his key ring. "That's why I went on ahead. Just put the key in the lock, turn it a half turn, and open the door. Once the door is open, you can take your key out and go inside."

Chavi put a hand on her hip and smirked at Kagome. "Whatever," she said, "Blaise and I are going to head off to get our books for that new professor's class. We'll pick up a book for you; seems like you've had more than your share of excitement for one day, and you could probably use this time to settle in." She flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder and said, "And for Merlin's sake, stop scratching your knees."

"But the skirt itches. I'm not used to such long skirts," Kagome complained.

Chavi rolled her eyes. "Alter the length then." She started walking away from Kagome. Blaise winked at Kagome before following after Chavi.

Kagome smiled, glad to have made new friends. She turned to the door, inserted the key Blaise had given her into the lock beside her name plate, and turned it half a turn before she tested the door knob. The door swung into a somewhat large, scarcely decorated room. She took the key out of the lock and stepped into the room.

Kiyoshi was curled up on her bed already. The door swung shut behind her and the lazy kitten opened one eye to peer at the intruder who interrupted his rest. "Hey there, Kiyo," Kagome said. "How'd you get in here?" she asked, knowing there really was no answer to her demon cat's ability to get where he wanted to be. She also was curious how he even knew where to go, but again, there was no answer forthcoming. One could not keep a cat from being where it wanted after all.

Her trunk was at the end of the four-poster bed, which had green velvet drapes tied to each post. The bed was made with a similar dark green set of blankets. An oak desk with three drawers down each side and a desk chair was to the left of the bed, with a book shelf not far from that. The other side of the room had a tall oak dresser with seven drawers, five large and two small. An open closet door revealed plenty of space to hang her clothes. On either side of the bed was a bedside table; between the dresser and closet was a simple hamper.

Everything seemed exceedingly bare, making the plain, yet large bed look extravagant. "I'll have to fix that up," Kagome said with certainty before taking off the black student's robe and—wand in hand—looked at her skirt. It didn't take much to adjust the length of the fabric; a quick cutting spell and after that, a nifty little spell designed for hemming was all she needed.

She would have to do that to each of her skirts, or it would just bother her all year, and she had no intention of wearing the pants during the winter as had been provided. Hogwarts had a winter uniform and a spring/fall uniform for the girls. However, she figured unless it was really cold, she would just wear her winter leggings from the Magic Academy. After all, winter probably wouldn't be colder than the Slytherin dungeon, she thought.

She began flitting around, taking things out of her trunk and finding a place for them. Her under clothes were folded up into the dresser and her robes and uniforms—even her old ones—were hung up in the closet on hangers that had been provided (after shortening the skirts). Books from the Magic Academy went on the bookshelf, and the books she'd just bought for this school year were set on the desk along with her schedule to sort through later on and figure out what she would need for the next day.

Eventually she managed to fish out her tote bag, but she had to repair the solitary strap. That was put on her desk chair. It, like most of her stuff, had seen better days. She was somewhat rough on her things. She found a few notes-scrolls that hadn't been completely used up and put those on her desk, then set to work finding her paint brush set—the 'quill' equivalent in her country—and ink-paint containers.

She liked her paint brushes. They had been a gift from her best friend, the first _real_ gift he'd ever given her, and were self-cleaning. All she had to do was tap them with her wand when finished using them. The set of paint brushes contained five various sized brushes with polished wood handles, kept in a slightly padded carrying case made out of steel. The ink containers were not bell-shaped jars like England had, but were rather flat rectangles almost like a stamp pad.

She had every intention of using them this year, just like she had every other year since she'd gotten them.

She was so intent on what she was doing that when a knock came from the door, she nearly dropped the ink containers in fright. She sighed in relief having caught it, and set it on the desk. "Coming," she called before wondering if they could hear her on the other side of the door. She figured it had to be Chavi or Blaise, so she went to answer it.

It was _not_ either of them. A Slytherin who she could not claim to know stood there, a smirk on her face. She was flanked by four other girls. Her mind recalled seeing them in the Common Room, talking in the larger group of people. She made a mental reminder to ask one of her new Slytherin friends why the Common Room seemed so incredibly _separated_ as soon as she saw one of them again. It could be important information, after all.

"Hello," the girl said. Kagome didn't like her tone of voice; it set her teeth on edge. It was almost like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, but then again that _could_ be being generous with the comparison. The girl held her hand out.

Kagome had long-since learned from her friends to trust her instincts. If her recent, disastrous summer did anything, it had set that learning in stone. Usually, her instincts told her everyone was good and deserved a chance. Now, her instincts were screaming, _Stay clear, Kagome._ She didn't take the offered hand. Her hand reached for her wand from the sleeve of her black, slightly singed robe. She took it out, twirling it comfortably with her fingers. "Hello," she responded in a somewhat curt voice.

The girl didn't seem too phased. Her hand dropped to her sides. "I'm Carolina. Carolina Wiggins." She flipped blonde hair over her shoulders, though hers was straight unlike Chavi's beautiful curls.

Kagome pursed her lips. Honestly, she'd only heard five words, but it seemed like each word was a personal stab at her. With each word, she felt sure that Carolina knew something about her that she didn't--it was a completely impossible, entirely illogical feeling though. "Obviously you know my name," Kagome told the girl, "or you would not have knocked on my door. Unless, by the grace of Kami, you knocked on the wrong one."

Carolina smirked again and her eyes glanced at her 'followers'. Kagome also glanced at the four other girls who seemed to be crowding the hall to attempt a look at her. They, too, shared the blonde trait of hair. Most of them bore blue eyes in various shades and all of them had straight hair. None of them were bold enough to alter the uniform like Chavi did, or like Kagome had done already.

"Oh, we didn't knock on the wrong door." Carolina said. The smirk was already getting on Kagome's nerves. Chavi managed to smirk as though it were a natural thing to do instead of smiling. Carolina managed to smirk as though she were thinking of evil, nefarious plots only an arch nemesis could come up with. "We came to introduce ourselves to you." She rambled off names of her companions--Kagome didn't bother to commit those names to memory. "We wanted to know if you would care to join us in a game of Exploding Snap in the Common Room."

Kagome's eyebrows nearly formed a 'v'. "No, I still have plenty of unpacking and preparation for tomorrow to do. It is quite taxing to switch schools." _I did want to talk to Harry tonight, _she thought absently. _But I think I'll wait until tomorrow. He probably has things to do anyway, and I'd probably get lost trying to find him._

"Well, if you change your mind, we'll be in the Common Room for a while. Feel free to come by," Carolina said and waved. As Kagome closed the door, she wondered why she had the sudden feeling she had missed some important detail somewhere in that.

She barely got to her desk and unfolded her schedule before there was yet another knock on the door. She went to answer it, hoping it was one of her new friends, but was yet again disappointed. A bulky, muscular Slytherin stood in the doorway, his hair looked like it had enough axel grease in it to supply a repair shop for a month. "Yes?" she asked him, again taking out her wand as her instincts kicked in.

That smile was _not_ friendly. His smile made her stomach twist in ways she knew wasn't healthy. If it _were_ healthy, it definitely wasn't an experience she wanted to ever duplicate. Still, despite the fact that she remained speaking in a neutral voice, she twirled her wand in her fingers and made _damn_ sure he saw it. He didn't appear to notice, or else he didn't think her a threat.

"You want to come to the Common Room? A lot of people want to meet and greet you…" Just like that, he didn't even introduce himself. Definitely a way to start, she supposed.

"No, I need to unpack. Thank you for the offer though." She watched him smile a sickening smile and then walk off. She had barely closed the door when there was another knock. She practically threw the door open. "I don't want to go to the Common Room!" she yelled before realizing it was just Chavi, standing there with her book in hand. She blushed profusely. "S-sorry," she said nervously. "I thought grease-head came back."

"Grease-head?" Chavi laughed. "No clue who you're talking about, darling, as most Slytherins wear hair potions to slick their hair. It's practically an unspoken law 'round here." Chavi pushed her way into the room, looking around at what things Kagome had managed to unpack and taking in the new length of her skirt all at once. She set the new book on the desk by the other texts she needed for the year.

"How much did the book cost?" Kagome asked Chavi, fishing her coin purse from her pocket.

Chavi waved a hand in dismissal to the question as she took a comfortable seat on the bed, glancing curiously at Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi peered lazily at Chavi through one crimson orb before turning and curling up on his other side as if that was his intention all along. Kiyoshi appeared uninterested in the likes of Chavi, though that was hardly unusual. He didn't take notice of too many people. Mostly he only cared if someone was threatening toward his mistress. Harry had been the only one Kiyoshi had really warmed up to other than Kagome.

"Don't worry about it," Chavi said. "I covered the cost. However, I want to tell you a few things about the Slytherin House."

"Okay," Kagome said. Chavi's tone indicated that what she wanted to say was very important, so Kagome crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, turned to face the other girl. She folded her hands in her lap as Chavi leaned back on her arms.

"These words cannot leave this room, got it?" Kagome nodded. "Good. I'd rather you found out from me than the hard way."

"What is it?" Kagome asked somewhat impatiently.

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**13 reviews got you 1300 words.** But since I got those reviews so fast (again), I added more to this and gave it a better cutoff. So you got 2800! But you're still... not caught up... You haven't even met my favorite teacher of all times yet! 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you want a longer chapter.


	9. Slytherin Separation

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya

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Chapter nine: Slytherin Separation

Chavi grinned at Kagome's impatience, but it didn't last long. She sighed and continued, "Slytherin is two separate groups; it always has been."

Kagome knew her confusion showed on her face, just as Chavi's face displayed a look of boredom that contradicted her somewhat frustrated tone. "Do you want to know what my first thought was in the Common Room?" Kagome asked the girl. She received a brisk nod, so continued. "I thought the atmosphere was split. Is that why?"

Chavi nodded again. "Probably," she said. "There are a lot of bad tensions here, and now that you've been sorted into Slytherin, the tension is undoubtedly going to increase ten-fold."

"Increase? What does my arrival have to do with everything?" she wanted to know. Internally, her mind screamed at her, _Warning! They must know about the Shikon no Tama! What will I do if one of them is in contact or in league with Naraku? _She attempted to keep her thoughts from her face but wasn't sure if she managed. _Will these people worship my feet too? Will they try getting close because of the power I have? _She didn't want them to. She wanted to be liked for who she was as a person, not because of what she could do.

"Think about it," Chavi said, "There aren't many transfer students that come to Hogwarts. If they're going to go to another school, they'll go to Durmstrang, or Beauxbatons, or the academy in Japan." That was true enough. Japan had several transfers a year, and not all of them came in the beginning of the year either. People hardly noticed the coming and going of the transfers there. "That's why your sorting was such a big deal, and why Slytherins everywhere are gloating. _We got the transfer student._ Do you get that much?"

"Yes, I think I understand that part, but why does it matter to the two groups of Slytherins? I'm _here_ aren't I?"

"_Because_," Chavi said with excessive patience, "both groups are going to want to win you."

Kagome practically spluttered her irritation, "_Win_?!" she demanded. "I am _not_ a prize! What the hell? And here I thought this school would be different!" She stood from the bed to practice the formal art of pacing. It wasn't a comfort, but it kept her from screaming loud enough to wake the dead.

"Try telling _that_ to a band of Slytherins," Chavi chuckled humorlessly. "To the majority of us, there is _nothing_ that can't be won. Living or not, if we want something, we're _going_ to get it, no matter what it takes. We have that drive to get it."

Kagome pinned Chavi with a furious, narrow-eyed stare. "And you? Are you going to try 'winning' me too?"

Chavi stood up, a smile on her face. She looked almost like she'd done something she was incredibly pleased about. "I've already won," she said matter-of-factly. Kagome opened her mouth to speak, most likely to yell something about how Chavi shouldn't be so sure, but Chavi held up a hand to stop the coming argument.

"Look, you," she said. "I'm not usually one to warm up so easily to anyone. You could ask any Slytherin here; I'm a cold bitch. Blaise and my other friends I have known since childhood; I haven't stretched a hand to help anyone—not even a fellow Slytherin—that I haven't known longer than ten years. But you, darling…" Chavi smiled the first non-smirk, very real smile Kagome had seen on her face all day, "You came in, not knowing who I am or who my father is or what that could mean for you if you got close to me. That meant a lot to my twisted little nearly-non-existent Slytherin heart."

Kagome gulped, thinking about her last year at the Magic Academy. Before she had the jewel, she was a nothing. She was _nobody_. After the jewel came out of her, suddenly everyone wanted to be her friend. Everyone wanted what she could bring them; power, prestige, _control_. No one wanted her because she was Kagome Higurashi. Only her few friends from childhood were what kept her from breaking down most of the time. They, and especially her best friend, didn't care about the jewel. Her best friend had offered to transfigure his wand into a hammer and smash the damn thing several times (though it always made her laugh because transfiguration was one of his worst subjects).

So she could definitely see where Chavi was coming from. "Oh," was all she could think of to respond with.

"That's why I'm here now, telling you all this. I think you should prepare yourself, because both groups of Slytherins are going to approach you eventually. If you don't want to join one of those groups, your best bet is to not talk to _any_ Slytherin anymore or it will look like you have."

"Even you?" Kagome asked. "Or Blaise?"

Chavi nodded somewhat regretfully. "Yes. I chose a side when I couldn't stay out of it anymore. Nasty things happen when you're involved in these groups; there are duels, malicious pranks, and rarely a day goes by when some poor bloke doesn't end up in the hospital wing with third degree burns or something similar injurious. If you don't involve yourself in one group or another, nothing should happen to you. But if you get involved, there's no turning back. You can't leave that group, because if you did, it would be ten times worse. _Both_ groups would turn on you and you'd have the entire Slytherin House against you. It's happened before; two years ago, a Slytherin did that."

"What happened to them?" Kagome asked, not really sure she wanted to know. She asked anyway.

Chavi answered in a dead-serious voice. "He was in St. Mungo's Insane Asylum for over half a year before he disappeared for a month. They found him in his parent's chicken coop, hanging from the rafters. I have my suspicions who did it, but I have no proof otherwise."

Kagome gulped. _And I was happy to be in Slytherin with Chavi and Blaise?!_ she screamed at her mind. _Is that hat insane? It needs to be locked up! This house should be disbanded. I should be in Japan, where I belong…_ "It… it wasn't suicide?"

Chavi shrugged. "Looked that way, and that's what it was ruled as, but honestly? I think it was murder."

"Was it… was it someone in your group, do you think?" she asked, incredibly nervous.

"No," Chavi said and shook her head. "My group is the lesser of two evils; literally. We threaten, blackmail, bribe, and hex to get our way. There's a very fine line we don't cross, that the others will. No matter who it is, what they have done, or what they may do in the future, we aren't going to take a life. Hell, one of my friends is a Hemophobic."

"A, a what?"

"They suffer from an abnormal fear of blood, in other words." Chavi explained. "But what I was getting at, is that you should really think about this. It won't bother me if you join the other side. They have most of the Slytherin House anyway because of how afraid everyone is of them. Fear is understandable. And if you're into that kind of violence, I don't really care to associate with you anyway."

"I'm not," Kagome assured her, "really, I'm not. But, but how… How do I stay out of it, if it's as big as you make it sound? I mean, from what I heard, you graduate after seventh year and I'm only in sixth. That's two years."

"Theodore Nott," Chavi said. She put a hand on her hip. "He's stayed out of it all; said he doesn't want to get involved. He's a loner in Slytherin and has been since he got here. If you decide to stay out of it, then…" she trailed off. "Anyway, I've been here too long."

"Won't people think oddly of you for being in my room? I mean… they won't… think I've chosen a side, will they?" It wasn't at all that she didn't want to be seen with Chavi, but she had her safety to consider as selfish as that sounded. She almost laughed at the thought. Ha, Kagome Higurashi, putting her well-being ahead of her social-life. A year ago she would have laughed if someone told her she would do that.

Chavi seemed to understand her hesitation. She smirked and shrugged, walking to the door. At first, Kagome panicked, thinking it meant she had 'picked a side' as it were. Instead, Chavi opened the door, checked in the hall for anyone looking, before opening the door wide to show Kagome the name plates. Kagome was the last one, and right above that was Chavi's nameplate.

Chaviah Melody Snape, it read. "I'm going into the Common Room. You think about what I said, good and hard; this is not a decision you should make lightly. If you get involved, there is no turning back. We're Slytherins, so if you get involved, you have to watch your own back. We're not going to do it for you. Oh, and a word of warning: stay away from the Common Room if you can avoid it. You've plenty of space in here for studying, or there's always the libraries. It's cold in here, but it's hell out there."

Kagome gulped slightly. "Thank you, Chavi," she whispered, but Chavi heard.

She brushed the comment off. "I _only_ did it because it suited my purposes. I'm a Slytherin heart, Kagome. Black as coal, I never do anything that doesn't benefit me in the long-run." Kagome felt that was a lie, but it seemed to her that Slytherins had more than one deceptive type of quality. Lying would be a minor detail.

"Maybe… maybe after we graduate, we could get together," Kagome told the girl. It was a somewhat off-topic way of saying, 'I think I won't be getting involved.' Kagome felt it was safer for her not to get involved.

Chavi smiled a second very real smile. "Perhaps," she said. Then she walked out and closed the door behind her. _I want to go home,_ she thought before resuming her tasks around the room. She had to finish preparing for the next day, but after a few minutes fumbling around with things, she decided to just peel her clothes off, throw them in the hamper, and pull on pajamas.

Kiyoshi mewled his complaints as she moved him to crawl under the covers. The glow globes dimmed in her dungeon-like room. _What caused this separation of the Slytherins?_ She wondered. It wasn't even the first day of classes yet, and already she had more questions than answers. _Malfoy is in Slytherin. Which side is he on? I'll bet he took a side. _

She was on the brink of sleep when she had a sudden thought. _That hat _knew_! It knew about the Slytherins separation! _she screamed mentally, no longer tired as the thought smacked her. _That's why it put me here!_

Chavi's words came back to her. _"We're Slytherins, so if you get involved, you have to watch your own back. We're not going to do it for you." _It was just like that hat said; the Slytherins would teach her to protect herself. That's why the hat put her here. She remembered the qualities of the other three houses that Chavi had ticked off; if she were in those houses, and especially like the hat said, in Gryffindor, it would set her back. Already, just from what Chavi said and from what she'd seen and heard at the dinner table and just how the House was laid out (everyone had their own room), she could see that Slytherins were self-reliant.

The Gryffindor qualities nearly explained her best friend exactly (though he would never admit to being chivalrous). Back home, her friends had always protected her. They were quick to jump to her defense, especially if it meant they could beat up someone they had a beef against. If she were in Gryffindor, it would be very similar, wouldn't it?

The hat was right; she had a lot to come to terms with. Her family's deaths, her near-rape, being tortured, and the near death of her Guardian. He might _look_ okay now, but what if he wasn't? So far she was coping alright enough, but she wasn't thinking about any of those things, really. She did her best to avoid it.

She wiped the tear streaks off her cheeks. Thinking about anything like that _hurt_, but who could she talk to about it? Harry knew enough about it to know her family was killed, but she didn't tell him anything really. What was she supposed to do? Walk up to Sesshoumaru and say, "Hey, I'm the reason your arm was cut off, but can we talk about the emotional trauma I'm suffering? I mean, really, it's a load on my chest."

Other than him, Kikyou, and Dumbledore, she didn't think anyone here would know what really happened that night to really talk about it. She was pretty much on her own on this, wasn't she?

Her eyes turned to the bedside table where she'd put the Shikon no Tama. Sesshoumaru would scold her for not sleeping with it on. "Anyone could walk up and take it," he would tell her. That jewel was the cause of most of her problems. If only she _could_ take a hammer to it…

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**12 reviews in 1 day.** You are being rewarded, so I gave you a good cutoff and 2200 words. Please don't assume others will review. You should review too. Maybe if I get a jackpot of reviews, I'll finally update the stuff I have!

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you want a longer chapter.


	10. Early Morning

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter ten: Early Morning

She didn't sleep well that night. Instead, she ended up tossing and turning as visions in her head came to her of blood lust and great danger. Each image came attached with visions of burning red eyes filled with rage and malice. Each one was accompanied by a stabbing pain in some part of her body. And all the while, she heard, 'Join the Dark Lord, and it will all stop,' but this time, no silver haired man came to save her from the evil.

Sometime early in the morning, she finally woke. Her sheets were soaked in sweat and her kitten was even giving her worried looks—or as much a worried look as a cat could give. She quickly found that she _really_ had to use the bathroom and no one had told her how to get there. Really, she needed a map of Hogwarts, if she was to be a loner.

Irritably, she glared at her schedule until she managed to register what classes she had for the day. It took about two seconds to use her wand and repair the strap on her bag, and then she roughly crammed the things she would need for the day in the bag. She threw her messy hair up into a pony-tail that seemed to make her look even _more_ like she just crawled out of bed than she did when she actually got up. Once she'd gotten dressed in the uniform and her robes—she noticed she had ties now, green ties and patches had been sewn to her robes and uniforms reading "Slytherin"—she stuck her wand on the inside of her robe sleeve with a nifty little spell, pulled the Shikon no Tama around her neck and hid it under her clothes, then grabbed her bag and dragged herself out of the room…

…And promptly got stuck in the doorway with another person. "Ack!" she moaned. Two seconds later, she and the other person fell onto the floor beside each other, both face down. His bag split open and his things went scattering.

"Wonderful," he muttered, getting up. With a wave of his wand, the bag repaired itself and the items flew into the bag. "I hate these cursed doors." he said.

"S-sorry," she muttered. _He's a weedy looking boy, isn't he?_ she asked herself. She looked at the nameplates on the door. The remaining two people were: Draconius Lucifer Malfoy, and Theodore Sin Nott. She knew he wasn't Malfoy—that _imp_!—so that remained Theodore Nott. _Wasn't Nott the loner Chavi mentioned?_

He gave her an odd look. "Are you going to kneel there and stare at nothing all morning? Malfoy and Snape haven't gotten up yet; they'll trip over you if you don't get up."

"Oh, right." she said. She pulled herself to her feet and settled her bag over her shoulder. "You're Nott, aren't you? Theodore Nott?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, how'd you guess that one?" he muttered sarcastically. "I don't have time for this." He took off down the hall.

_He's so friendly_. she thought. She followed him hastily. "Wait, wait up," she said and her voice echoed through the snaking corridors. He didn't wait, but she caught up to him. "I know it's asking too much, but could you please show me where the bathrooms are?"

He snorted. "You're right, it _is_ asking too much." They walked through the Common Room toward the wall that would open up and let them out.

"But I really have to go to the bathroom!" she told him.

"Then go," he told her. "I'm not stopping you."

She glared at his back as he rounded a corner up ahead; she had no idea where the bathroom was, she didn't know where her first classroom was, she was new to the school, and she could feel a newfound dislike for Mr. Nott. _He's an ass, that's why he didn't choose sides. No one _wanted_ him, because he's so bad._

Her kitten mewled at her feet and she looked at the black creature that was rubbing up against her ankle. "Kiyo, where's the bathroom?" she asked him hopelessly. He looked up at her and then took off down the hall. "Kiyo!" she cried, afraid he'd run away. He always came back, but still… He stopped, looking expectantly at her. Did he want her to follow him?

She moved closer to him and attempted to pick him up but he ran again before stopping and looking back at her. Now she knew he wanted her to follow. She did so and before she knew it, her kitten had stopped in front of a door reading "Girl's Lavatory".

Kagome giggled. "I always knew you were smart, Kiyo!" she told him. Demon cats were always smarter than normal cats. Or at least…more helpful, at any rate. She gratefully went in. Kiyo was waiting for her outside when she was finished. "Okay," she said, smiling at the kitten. "Let's see if you can handle this one." She looked at her schedule. It said to meet in the entrance hall for "Etiquette for Witches and Wizards" with Professor Llywellyn. She would have that class with a mix of all four house students.

Up ahead, she heard a scuffle. She and Kiyo were just climbing out of the dungeon staircase. When they entered the Great Hall, she saw that a few Slytherins were up already, but no one yet from other houses. A rather tired looking girl—a Slytherin girl—was cornered by five other girls who looked awake and ready and _amused._ Kagome recognized 'Carolina' from the evening before.

At first, she stayed quiet, watching the Slytherin confrontation and listening to the hissed words. "Oh, your _poor_, _dear lover_. He _got_ what was coming to him, you know. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named saw to that _personally_. _My_ father told me _all_ about it," Carolina sneered. _Who was "He" and why couldn't he be named,_ Kagome wondered.

"Leave him out of this, Wiggins," the cornered girl snapped despite her obvious exhaustion. She was a little roughed up, her hair mussed and her robes askew. She was cradling her hand to her. It was bloody, and one of the fingers was bent in a direction fingers ought not to go.

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**10 reviews in 1 day.** Only 1000 words today, because I think you're all getting comfortable assuming I'll always reward you. Review, please! 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated. PS, it's "compliment" not "complement". Complement refers to something like a candy on a pillow in a hotel, like a complementary chocolate. Compliment refers to praise. Correct me if I'm wrong.

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you _want_ a longer chapter.


	11. Can't Leave

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter eleven: Can't Leave

"Why should I, _Pansy_?" Carolina snickered. Was this 'Pansy' the same person Blaise had mentioned having a new boyfriend every other week?

"Don't you use my name," Pansy said.

Carolina laughed again. "Why not, Pansy? We're all friends here, aren't we? We're all Slytherins. Why can't we all be friends?"

"Why can't you go jump off the Astronomy tower?" Pansy hissed. That comment earned her a rough slap from Carolina. Kagome guessed the two were of opposing sides of the Slytherin house. "You slap like a bitch, as usual," Pansy sneered.

Carolina lifted her wand, pointing it straight at Pansy's nose. Kagome felt a chill run down her back, and before she knew what was happening, she had her wand out and threw a random hex at Carolina. She wasn't sure which one she'd sent out, it had happened so fast, but she knew she couldn't let Pansy be bullied. Carolina fell to the floor as if her entire body had become jelly. Her friends looked to see where the curse had come from, clearly not worried about Carolina. _Really, that's screwed up._

"The transfer student?!" one of them uttered.

Kagome pointed her wand at them; they returned the favor and pointed their wands at her. "Leave the girl alone," Kagome told the bullies. Really, who woke up at three in the morning and decided, 'Oh, I'm in the mood for some torture today, let's go find me a victim!' Apparently these girls.

"You _don't_ want to side with Parkinson," said one girl. "Just put your wand down and leave. We can forget today."

Kagome felt a brief smirk ghost her features. "Okay," she said and she put her wand in her sleeve. She held up her hands to show them it was away. Pansy had pursed her lips and was watching Kagome carefully. "It's down."

"Now leave," another said.

The last said, "We'll forget this happened."

Kagome couldn't help the ironic smile that twisted her lips. "Sorry, but I can't do that. Wand down or not, you best be the one walking away. Take your friend to the hospital wing; I don't know what spell I cast, but it looks… okay, actually she looks improved now, but you'll probably want her all fixed and good as new to torture some other unsuspecting witch you find around here."

Pansy's eyes went wide. "Just walk away," Pansy said. "Don't involve yourself."

Kagome sighed and rubbed her temples. "Sorry; I've never really been good at walking away from something wrong that's going on. I probably would've fit better in the Gryffindor house because of that." She put her hands down and looked at the girls. "So, what do you think? You going to walk away?"

One girl smirked. She flipped her blond hair back before pointing her wand and opening her mouth. She yelled some sort of hex, but Kagome missed it due to the fact that three other hexes drowned out what she said. With hexes coming from all four wands, they thought at least one would hit her.

None of them did. A black hole that looked similar to being described as 'nothingness' seemed to just form instantaneously in the air in front of her, with no real reason as to why it should, and grew faster than the spells could move so that the four spells disappeared into it.

With gaping mouths, the Slytherins all stared at that hole. It disappeared far slower than it came, but still moved at an alarming speed until it looked similar to a hovering black ink blob about the size of a snitch. "Hmm," Kagome murmured half-amused. Really, it was an early morning. She'd had an uncomfortable night's sleep in a dungeon, just shy of freezing cold, suffering nightmares that she couldn't recall now, and some dummy decided to beat up on an innocent bystander (from Kagome's viewpoint, at least).

"You—what—huh?" one of the girls said rather intelligently.

Kagome sighed. "Yeah, that sums that up well," she ushered a smirk onto her features and told them, "You aren't fast enough to hit me, you know. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than that. And your spell levels aren't strong enough to break through or alter my defense." Kagome called the blob to her with a sharp whistle, and it came. She grasped it in her palm, sticking it in her pocket.

"What?" again with the intelligent responses.

"Naggen," snapped a cold voice behind Kagome. Kagome turned her head to find Chavi and Blaise standing at the top of the stairs that led down into the dungeons, looking at the Slytherin girls. Chavi was the one who had spoken and she didn't sound pleased. "Take Wiggens to the hospital wing. I'm not a patient woman this morning." She had her wand drawn, and Blaise was idly twirling his wand in his fingers.

The girls immediately picked up Wiggens and rushed out of the entrance hall and up the stairs. Blaise and Chavi stepped fully into the hall. Chavi moved over to Pansy while Blaise stepped over to Kagome. "I thought Chavi said you weren't going to get involved," Blaise asked curiously.

Kagome frowned and followed Chavi toward Pansy. "I can't stand by and watch people be beat up or bullied, Blaise." She said quietly. "I never have been able to."

"Are you okay, Pansy?" Chavi asked.

Pansy nodded, pulling her sleeve over her broken fingers. "I—I'm fine," she lied, though the pain in her voice betrayed the calm look on her face. "Just a scratch."

Kagome held out her hands to Pansy. "May I see? I can help."

Pansy shook her head. "I'm fine," she said again and her voice was stronger this time.

"Pan," Blaise said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "you're not fine. I saw your hand. At least one of those fingers is broken."

Pansy lifted her chin up stubbornly. "I am _fine_. I was never _not_ fine. There was no need for you to interfere," she added with a slight glare toward Kagome. "This isn't any of your concern. Go back to Japan and deal with your _own_ problems."

"Stop it, Pansy," Chavi said, grabbing the girl's arm roughly and dragging it toward her despite Pansy's small cry. She pulled back the sleeve and they could see that the first and second fingers were both broken quite obviously. "We need to get you to the hospital wing." Chavi said.

Kagome sighed. She supposed it was better that way; if she used the power of the Shikon no Tama to aid her in healing Pansy, there was a likelier chance they would find out about it. It was bad enough she had already used it once today.

"I'm _fine_." Pansy yelled and yanked her hand back. She cried out but then silenced herself. She moved across the floor, grabbed up her wand from where apparently it had fallen, and said, "I'm going back to the Common Room!" And with that, she sauntered off down the hall leading toward the stone wall entrance to the Slytherin House.

"What's with the pride issue?" Kagome asked. "Is it really too much to acknowledge that she needs to get her hand fixed?"

Chavi shrugged and ran a finger through her blonde curls. She turned to look at the rather large hour glasses that would show the points for their houses. "Slytherins are loners, Kagome. We find it incredibly degrading to ask for help from anyone." There was silence between the three as they waited for other students to show up for the class they were to take.

Finally, Blaise whispered, "So, you're obviously on our side of Slytherin then, eh, Kagome?" Two Hufflepuff students had entered the entry hall, as well as three Ravenclaw students. Kagome guessed from his whisper that the other houses didn't know about the separation of the Slytherin House. Of course, by all outward appearances, Slytherin would want to make it look like they were united… but how united could they be when push came to shove?

Kagome shrugged. "Like I said, I can't stand by and watch people get bullied. I can't ignore it."

Chavi whispered, "They won't keep quiet. Wiggins, Naggen, and the rest of them will make sure everyone knows that you refused to walk away."

"Hm," Kagome said. "I guess, I have no choice then… Ah well, I'm with you guys though, right?" She looked at them hopefully and Blaise slung and arm over her shoulders, smirking devilishly at her.

"You're with the sexiest Slytherin in the world!" he boasted.

Before he could claim that title, though, Chavi smirked and said, "Who is me, of course."

Blaise sent her a playful glare. "In your mightiest dreams, Chaviah, you might be. _Might _be. Of course…" he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm the epitome of sexy. Just look at me. Tall, roguishly handsome, clean shaven, and feel these abs! Rock hard, I tell you!"

Kagome curiously poked his belly and he let out a breath. "Pretty soft rock you got there, Blaise," she chirped, and both Chavi and Kagome began laughing at the pout on Blaise's features.

Once they calmed down, Chavi said, "Oh, _look_, Blaise. Here comes the Golden Trio." There was slight contempt in her voice as she said it.

However, Kagome didn't really notice where Chavi was looking. She was too busy looking around for Kiyoshi. When her eyes spotted the kitten, she practically beamed.

* * *

**14 reviews in 2 days.** 1400 words today, plus 100, because there was only 100 left in the scene. Review, please! 

THANK-YOU very much to everyone who did leave a review. It is much appreciated.

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	12. The Insane Professor Llywellyn

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

**Ilyes Llywellyn** _(Ill-ease Lew-ell-en)_, one of the many species of professor. Usually found in psychiatric wards, prisons, or on the run from the cops after being convicted of intentionally torturing students in any way possible. Eats various types of nuts and berries and prefers raw meat, but will eat noddles and cooked meat as a last resort. Favorite sports include harrassing students and giving out detentions. Hobbies include watching the House Point hour glasses, and finding reasons to either give out, or take away points to further the ability to watch the House Point hour glasses gain and lose gems. Likes sparkly and/or noisy objects and gorgeous women. Dislikes tests, homework, and grading tests and homework. Extremely dangerous when displeased or cornered. Keeps a pack of hyenas as pets in his house. If seen, do not approach.

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Chapter twelve: The Insane Professor Llywellyn

Harry had never hated mornings more. For one thing, early mornings were too early in the day to even begin thinking about processing any form of thought whatsoever. However, this morning was even more loathsome because he now had a class three days a week that would take place for four hours before he even had breakfast.

The even _worse_ part about having the early morning was that his Potions class had to be scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays at the end of the day. Basically, life sucked. He'd never had Potions more than once a week during his last five years… It did become a little more cheerful though when he saw Kiyoshi wandering the halls near Gryffindor Tower as if looking for something. Harry thought it was mice the cat was looking for, but then the minute the cat saw Harry, he bounded toward the black haired boy faster than a spell and leapt onto Harry's shoulder with the expertise only a cat could have.

Surprisingly his momentum seemed negated the instant he landed or else one would have assumed the cat would barrel straight off Harry's shoulder and to the floor. "What the bloody hell is that thing?!" Ron asked, now awake at the sight of the two-tailed cat.

Hermione was equally perplexed. "He's a… a cat, Ron, don't be so silly. Slightly deformed." She said.

Ron said, "_Crookshanks_ is deformed. That thing only has two tails. It's not ugly."

"Crookshanks is not deformed!" Hermione practically hissed. "Don't you dare say that ever again, Ron, or so help me, I will—"

"Actually," and Harry was probably going to milk it for all it was worth being able to know something before Hermione, "he's a cat _demon_. So he's a special kitty. Aren't you, Kiyoshi?" he reached up and scratched the purring kitten's chin as the cat curled around his neck as though he owned Harry.

"That's impossible, Harry," Ron said suddenly. "A cat demon? Do you even know what you're suggesting?"

Harry blinked. Damn, so much for that milking… The udder must have been dry. "What?" he asked. "He _is_ a cat demon. He's the familiar of the new transfer, Kagome."

Hermione's lips pursed. She didn't like the new transfer. She was prejudiced against Kagome because of Kagome's sorting, though Harry had decided that he wasn't going to bother worrying about Kagome since Draco was eviler by far and probably had some sort of twisted scheme up his sleeve with his coming shipment of the 100-Galleons worth of Nosebleed Nougat.

"Harry, that's impossible. Demons don't live in England. They were driven out several hundred years ago." Ron pointed out. He seemed pleased to know a bit of history that (by the severe frown on Hermione's face and the fact that she'd drug out her _Hogwarts: A History_ book) Hermione hadn't known.

"Well, this one came with Kagome," Harry said. They made it to the entrance hall, and a glance around the somewhat darker interior showed several people had gathered. Harry noticed Luna Lovegood immediately (she was rather hard to miss since she was spinning in circles and giggling) so he led his friends over to the girl.

"Hello, Luna," Hermione said.

"Hey Loony," Ron said with a cheeky grin at the girl.

"Harry, you still have that cat demon!" Luna said without giving Harry a chance to say hello.

"It _can't_ be a cat demon!" Ron insisted. "Loony, you _know_ it can't."

"It can, because it is!" Luna giggled dreamily.

"But they were driven out! All demons!" Ron said.

One of the other Ravenclaws present moved over to the conversation having heard Ron's comment. It was Cho Chang. She smiled at Harry, but her eyes were somewhat distant when she looked at him. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Weasley," she said, "You can't expect all the demons to have been driven out. It's just not possible."

"Yes, it is," Ron said and Harry saw Hermione pull her head out of the book with a look of frustration on her face. She was as lost as he was, and it was practically eating at her. How could Ron know something she didn't?

"There could be several in this _school_ alone who are half or even full-demon, but they're hiding it. A simple little kitten demon is nothing compared to how deep the wool is being pulled over our eyes. Honestly, Weasley, do you think they could be driven off?" Cho asked. She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Ron's face flushed bright red, but he was saved from having to respond as none other than Kagome bound over to their group. "Kiyo!" she said, sending a bright smile at Harry before waggling her finger at the cat. "You traitor," she told the cat and Harry couldn't help but smile at Kagome's antics. "You're not supposed to chase off to find and bother Harry!"

The kitten licked a paw as if to say, 'And that's what I think about _that_.'

"Hey, Kagome," Harry said.

Kagome gathered the cat in her arms, and though the cat looked annoyed, he didn't leave her warm embrace and stretched to lick his back paw. "Hi, Harry!" Kagome smiled. The others seemed surprised that Harry knew her, even Ron and Hermione, though Ron and Hermione _had_ known to begin with. "I'm glad I saw you! I wanted to tha—"

"WAHAHAHAA!" cackled a voice; everyone turned their heads upward and saw the new professor perched precariously on the edge of the Slytherin house point hour glass. Everyone fell deathly silent. Dressed in multi-colored apparel that looked much like something a jester would wear (complete with a three spiked cap with bells on each bent tip, and shoes that curled at the toe with little bells on the tip of the curl), the professor looked thoroughly pleased with himself. "You are all my victims! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

_What the hell is that guy on?_ Harry wondered, sharing a glance with his friends.

"Role call!" he pulled a clipboard from beneath his arm and a brush from behind one pointed ear. He licked the tip of the brush before shouting at the top of his lungs (and very enthusiastically), "When I call your name, you will say, 'Present'! If that isn't possible, but you're here, dance the Macarena! If you don't know the Macarena, and you can't talk, get the hell outta my class! WAHAHAHAA!"

Harry looked around and saw more people had showed up. The hyperactive professor shouted, "Cho Chang!"

"Uh, present?" Cho called hesitantly.

The professor glared at her. "I can't hear you!" he said. "LOUD! Like, PRESENT!"

Cho coughed nervously before saying, "Present," a bit louder.

"L-O-U-D-E-R!"

"_Present_."

"Oh hell! If you don't scream, I'm gonna make you scream!" he yelled.

"PRESENT!" she said suddenly.

He was back to his smiling self, no longer looking all threatening. "Yay! Cho's here, so fifty points to…" he glanced at her. "What house you in?"

"Ravenclaw," she said.

"Right! Haha! Fifty points to Ravenclaw!" they got to watch as fifty gems dropped into the bottom of the Ravenclaw hourglass. "Luna Lovegood!!"

"Oh, I'm present, Professor!" Luna chanted loudly.

"Hey! I remember you!" he cackled. "You helped me last night, Luna! You're a Ravenclaw, right?" Luna nodded. "FIFTY MORE TO RAVENCLAW!!"

Harry blinked as the list went down, and all the names were called, his included. Then, they reached the Slytherins. "Let's see," the professor muttered. "Ahahaha! You! BLAISE ZABINIIIIII! I like that name. Lot's of letters. Oh, wait, that's just my doodling, nevermind. Blaise?!"

"Present!" Blaise said loudly.

"FIFTY TO SLYYYYYTHERIN! Muahahaha! Chaviah Melody—" a girl with blonde curls stepped forward and said, "PRESENT!" before the professor could finish, and he wiped a fake tear away from his glass-like skin. "Such a cute name for a cute girl who has a cute voice and a cute way to interrupt… Aw, this is going to be a great year…" He wiped away an invisible tear with a goofy grin on his face, and the bells on his cap jangled as he tilted his head. "Miss Melody, you mind if I call you Miss Melody, too bad I'll call you it anyway, but you earn a hundred points for Slytherin, cause the green tie you got on and the sexy legs…ooh, mind outta the gutters, Ilyes... Professor Dumb-kins said no hitting on students… KAGOME HIGURASHI! Where's the Dog Princess, Kagome Higurashi!?"

Kagome laughed nervously, glanced about suspiciously, and said, "Present!" before hiding her face in her cat's fur. "Slytherin!" Kagome muttered.

"FIFTY POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!" He snickered. "And lastly! Draconius Malfoy!" He was met with dead silence. "Er, Draconius?! EH!? Draconius Malfoy!?!" More silence. "Ten points from Slytherin! Answer me!" nothing. "DRACONIUS!!" still nothing. "Slytherin loses ALL their points for the loser no-show!"

Harry was curious, and exchanged looks with Ron and Hermione. Obviously it was Draco's full name since Draco didn't have any siblings—at least, any that the-boy-who-lived knew about… but where was Draco? Had he slept in?

* * *

**Thank you to my reviewers!**

Review, please!

I appreciate all your reviews!

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you _want_ a longer chapter.


	13. The One Class Rule:

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

* * *

Chapter 13: The One Class Rule: Never Miss A Class

Kagome watched as Blaise and Chavi sent somewhat cold looks at the Professor while those members from other houses looked pleased. The Gryffindors especially looked pleased and Kagome didn't miss the grin that passed between Harry and his red-haired Gryffindor friend when all the green emeralds flew up into the top half of the green hourglass.

She made a mental note to ask about those later and find out what they were for. In the meantime, she stood near Harry with Kiyoshi in her arms. She hoped no one would question why she had been called the Dog Princess. They all watched as the Professor jumped from the top of the hourglass he was standing on as easily as if he'd just walked down a single step and he gave everyone a joyous thumbs-up, shouting: "OKAY! Now, all of you maggots are here 'cause your heads-of-house nominated you and your nomination was approved by Mister Dumb-buns—also known as He-Who-Runs-This-School."

Several students turned to their neighbors and murmured, 'maggots' or 'Dumb-buns?'

The Professor pointed his finger at each of the students present before he smirked. "I am Ilyes Llywellyn, the coolest, most awesome teach who you'll ever have! Some of you'll come to know me as Professor Llywellyn, and maybe some of you'll know me as Nells which has absolutely nothing to do with my name, but how the hell ever I don't care! What's important is ATTENDANCE! So, keep in mind right here and now, your first class rule is _Never Miss A Class_! Of course, if you're even one second late, you may as well not show up at all! And if you're not going to show up at all, then I'm going to break your wand and see to it you're expelled! AHAHAHA!"

The mad cackle of the professor startled more than one person, but the professor didn't give anyone time to register that shock. "AND!" the jester-professor continued, "If you think I _can't_ get you expelled, think again you corpse-eaters! I _can_ and _will_ get you expelled, 'cause there ain't no government that won't listen to me," said by he-who-wore-a-jester-costume to work, "if I tell someone somethin' bad 'bout you! Just a few words here and there and your wands will be broken and your magic bound! YOU'D SPEND YOUR LIVES AS SQUIBS! Muahahahaha! But don't take my word for it. I got sixteen students expelled in my years at the Magic Academy!"

"Mad-man!" Kagome squeaked, not exactly meaning to but also accidentally speaking loud enough that the professor heard her.

He wasn't offended (thankfully) and actually laughed. "AH! The Dog Princess thinks my ways are unconventional? Or crude?" His tone was questioning…prodding… He was obviously wanting to know her thoughts.

"I think it's downright horrible treatment!" Kagome told him, paling as everyone turned to look at her.

Llywellyn scratched his chin. "Horrible, eh? But you have to admit, Princess, it's a _far_ cry from how the professors are in the academy. We _both_ know these sacks of dead-weight would never make it over there." His eyes locked with hers and she gulped. All the attention she was receiving, and she _knew_ they noticed how he called her Princess those second and third times, was almost suffocating.

"Well, that's true…but," her resolve pretty much broke and the professor laughed.

"But _nothing_, Princess! I can guarantee you my rules are going to be the same as your Guardian's rules. He might even be harder! Who knows? Muahahaha! Anyway, now that we've covered the basic rule: _Never Miss A Class_, we're going to have a first fun class!" He rubbed his hands together as all his students looked somewhat horrified.

Chavi raised one hand skyward and the professor whirled on her. "Yes, Miss Melody, oh sexy Slytherin Student?" He raised one eyebrow at her in amusement.

Chavi said, "Will we be having class here every morning, or do we have a classroom?"

Llywellyn smirked. "Ah," he said, rubbing his hands together again. "Do you see the door?" He pointed to the doors leading out of the Great Hall and his eyes turned upward in a crescent. "It's such a beautiful day, I thought we'd head outside! Oh, and before I forget!" he took a wand out of his sleeve and with a flowery twirl, a box appeared on the ground. "Everyone reach in and take one! These will be your grades! Oh, and by the way, whatever happens in this class may not be spoken of anywhere else. Penalty of death, by the way! I'm possibly bipolar, so let's not tempt me."

Kagome glanced at Harry and saw his bewildered expression before moving with him to the box. They both took out a somewhat large hourglass with tiny beads of all random colors inside it. "I'm confused," Kagome whispered to Harry.

"I've stopped trying to understand professors around here," Harry whispered back as they stepped away from the box. The two of them ended up by Chavi and Blaise after the shuffling around. Kagome noticed Harry nod sharply at Blaise, while Blaise raised his eyebrow at Harry as if he had dirt on Harry he was going to sell.

Once everyone had their hourglasses, Llywellyn got rid of the box with a wave of his wand. "AWL-RIGHT!" the Professor yelled. He held the last hourglass in his hand. "Miss Higurashi, you're going to find Draconius for us and meet us in the Forbidden Forest for class. Won't be too hard to find us." A _lot_ of students shuddered and looked around in horror at their classmates. "Just walk twenty feet into the forest past ol' Hagrid's hut and you'll find a deer path. Follow the deer path due West another fifty feet. Got it?"

Kagome didn't dare argue. She took Draco's hourglass, having to drop Kiyoshi to do so, and looked at her cat. "Stay with Harry, okay?" she asked it in a whisper not many could hear due to the fact that they were all beginning to murmur noisily. Kagome glanced at Harry. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked him and earned a shake of the head. "Thanks."

Kagome turned and headed off toward the dungeon's entrance again. All the students were following Llywellyn as he jangled outside; some were trying to stay away from him and some were trying to be closer to him. Despite his weird behavior and the awkward joker costume, girls were giggling about him. "Serpentine Dragon," she whispered and the stone wall moved.

She poked her head inside, scanning for other Slytherins. She did not want to get into trouble more than she had already. It would be a bad thing if someone decided she was ripe for a bullying. No one was present, thankfully. She slid across the Common Room, chose one of the pathways, and walked steadily down it, searching for her door (which was also Draco's door, she recalled).

She came closer to it, realizing this time she was approaching from the other side. She struggled with the large hourglasses for a moment before she knocked on Draco's name plate. It took her three knocks to get any form of answer, and even that was just someone using their wand to open the door rather than getting up to answer it. She blinked before catching the door handle before it could close completely and entering the interior of Draco's darkened room.

* * *

**Thank you to my reviewers!**

Review, please!

I appreciate all your reviews!

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	14. A Little Talk

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

**Pairings: **(Because no one read the big note I left about them apparently)  
**Draco/Kagome, Harry/OC, Ron/Hermione**

* * *

Chapter 14: A Little Talk

His glow-globes weren't lit at all, so once the door closed behind her, she was encased in total darkness. "Who are you and what do you want?" Draco's hoarse voice came from behind the curtains of his four-poster bed.

She was too nervous to respond. His voice sounded so ice-cold, like someone had wrapped her in a glacier. Seconds after she didn't respond, she heard movement and Draco's pale hand had escaped the curtains, grabbed one, and with a slight ring of metal on metal, the curtain was pulled back. "Come," he said to her, "here."

She felt nervous as she approached him. After all, they hadn't exactly parted on friendly terms six years ago once Primary School was over. His fault, really, but they hadn't. She clutched the hourglasses tight to her bosom, her bag feeling somehow heavier than it had a moment ago. "Malfoy," she said, surprised she was able to keep her voice clear.

She could see his outline, but only barely. "Lumos," he said and his wand lit up. She saw he was sitting up in his bed, staring at her through eyes like icebergs. He wasn't under the covers, and sat only in his boxers. His left leg was heavily bandaged from his ankle all the way to his thigh. In the light the wand emitted, she could have sworn his skin was glowing, and there was a menacing looking tattoo on his left arm. It was a vivid red skull with an open jaw and a red snake slithering out of the mouth. He did nothing to hide the tattoo, and she wondered if it had any significance at all in his life. He hadn't had it six years ago...

"And to what do I owe the _pleasure_ of your company at my bedside, whelp?" he asked her, a dangerous, mocking amusement in his eyes.

"You didn't show up to class, so Professor Llywellyn sent—" she started, but his smile made her stop talking. "What?" she demanded. That was no nice smile. It was the kind that evil gave their victims.

He chuckled humorlessly. "So, you came to get me, like a sprightly good little girl."

"It isn't like he gave me the option." she told Draco.

He turned his body, pulling himself to the edge of the bed. He limped slightly, walking close to her. She knew he was trying to intimidate her. She wasn't exactly intimidated, but she wasn't comfortable either with how he stood over her and stared at her with those cold eyes and that platinum blond hair hanging in his face. His long, cold fingers wrapped around her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

She met his stare with one of her own. She despised how amused he was in the mornings. She remembered that from her childhood. He was a morning person…an early riser…and he always found things funnier in the morning. What was he laughing about this time?

"Mm," he smirked, bringing his forehead down to hers, "should we pick up where we left off six years ago? I could definitely see it being very interesting, very quickly…"

"Stop it, Imp," she said, jerking her chin out of his cold grasp. "What you did was low; honestly. I still have scars."

"So do I," he laughed again without being truly humored. "Do you enjoy your life, Princess?" he asked. "I'm sure you do… Glorified for having that stupid bobble…" He reached out, fingering the rosary that was barely peeking out from her collar. He tugged and the jewel itself showed, glowing pink but not attacking him like it would any other being. "Oh look…" he smirked, grabbing the jewel in his palm and using the rosary to drag her closer.

"Aiee," she cried, somewhat pained though more annoyed than anything. "Let go, Malfoy!"

"It isn't attacking me… I wonder why…" he fingered the rosary again, "Oh, that's right… because these are my—"

"Don't!" she cried, trying to pull away yet not drop the hourglasses. "Shut up! I'm only here because Professor Llywellyn told me to come get you, so get dressed, get your books, and let's go!" She shoved one of the hourglasses at him. "This is yours, for the class."

He released her, amused. "You hate me, yet you wear those." He dropped the hourglass lightly on the bed.

"We ran out. We had to have them immediately to protect the Shikon," she said, screwing her eyes shut as she backed away. "I didn't have any choice."

He said, "Do I have to point out how weak your defense is?"

After only a moment, she shook her head. She knew how weak it was.

Draco walked across his room, his wand light glowing on not just one, but two dressers. _He must have a lot of underwear,_ Kagome thought. He opened the top drawer of the dresser next to the hamper before turning to her again.

With a slight edge to his voice, he snapped, "Leave!" though he kept his voice hushed. It seemed almost like he were talking in the vicinity of something sleeping. She left the room immediately, not really caring to watch him change. She waited outside the room in the hall for him.

It seemed hours before he came out of the room, dressed and ready for his day. He looked perfect, to say the least. His hair was slicked back (she would admit to herself she liked it better without the hair potion, but that didn't change the fact that she hated him) and not a strand out of place. His tie was knotted perfectly, and his uniform and robes without any crease to them.

His satchel was over one shoulder, and his hourglass was in hand. "Take this," he said, putting the hourglass back in her hand. She stared alternately at the door—which had closed in her face—and the hourglass in her hand. If he thought she was his personal carrier, he would be sadly mistaken.

She already had a speech prepared by the time he came out, but the speech fumbled on her tongue. _WHAT THE HELL WOULD HE HAVE ONE OF THOSE FOR?_

* * *

**The HP books describe the Dark Mark as a vivid red tattoo that burns black.**

Thank you to my reviewers!

Review, please!

I appreciate all your reviews!

1 review earns one-hundred (100) words on the next chapter. Review if you _want_ a longer chapter. Wow, chapters are getting slow... Because people aren't reviewing.


	15. Shiva Malfoy

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

* * *

Chapter 15: Shiva Malfoy

She stared at the creature he came out of his room with. Well, it wasn't exactly a creature as much as it was a little girl, but still! Did he…have a child? He was only sixteen! Same as her!

Draco sighed in irritation. "Stop. Staring." He said. He turned and started walking. She had to rush to catch up, but she couldn't help glancing at the child he was carrying. The little girl looked remarkably similar to Draco, but her platinum blond hair had curls down to her mid-back where his was straight.

Kagome recalled the four-year-old Draco, and how his hair had been curly then. As he grew, his hair lost its curl. She was willing to bet anything that the little girl had the same iceberg gray eyes that Draco had. Her skin was pale like Draco's, her body holding zero baby fat.

She was asleep, curled comfortably in Draco's arms. She was dressed in warm, pink foot-sock pajamas decorated with little brown wands. As he walked, he was wrapping a yellow baby blanket around the girl, maneuvering her with as much skill as a parent of a large family. Kagome had to ask, "Is she…yours?"

"No," Draco said. "She's my sister."

"Sister?" Kagome blinked. She supposed that wasn't hard to believe. But why was his sister with him, and not their parents? "I was under the impression that Hogwarts was only a Secondary School."

"It is," he admitted.

"Then why is she with you?"

"Because my parents aren't in any fit state to take care of her." He said, limping out of the entrance to the common room and into the corridors of the dungeon outside their house. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Draco beat her to the punch by answering before she could ask. "Professor Dumbledore is letting me take care of her as long as it doesn't interfere with my schooling."

"And will it?" Kagome wasn't going to ask about his parents, but she did wonder. Why was he limping? And what happened to his parents?

"No." He said it as though wanting to end the conversation.

"What's her name?" Kagome asked.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"No. At least, not when I've had so little sleep. I have to do something to keep myself awake. What's her name?"

"Shiva. Now will you shut up? I need to stop by Professor Snape's office, and preferably not attract Peeve's attention."

"Peeves?" Kagome asked.

He pursed his lips in frustration and then said, "If you shut up now, I'll answer your questions later—after class, later. But if you say another word before we get to class, I won't answer any questions."

She closed her mouth and followed him as he led her through the winding dungeon corridors. They stopped in front of a cold looking, yet ordinary wood door and Draco shifted the child so he had an arm free and could knock. It was just a few seconds later that a scowling professor answered the door, wrapping a dark robe around himself. Kagome recognized this man as the professor Sesshoumaru had been talking to during dinner in the Great Hall the previous night.

"You're late, Draco," the man said, casting a glance at Kagome. He stepped aside. "In, now, both of you." Draco entered the well-lit room. Kagome followed and watched as Draco glanced around the room. A small crib was placed in the corner of the room. Draco moved to the crib and set his sister inside, covering her up with yet another blanket that had been inside the crib: that blanket was green.

"Sorry," Draco apologized, though he didn't sound sincere. "It took longer to wrap my bandages than I thought it would. That potion you gave me really burns."

Kagome glanced curiously around the room. The thing she really wanted to ask was _Is this a child friendly room?_ Especially with all those shelves of rather poisonous looking objects. Tacked to the walls were shelves of jars filled with rat tails, sinister looking fluids, and she could swear she even saw a jar with a dead pixie in it.

"You'll have to get up earlier then," the professor stated. Kagome assumed the greasy haired man was Professor Snape, since that was who Draco said they were going to see. Draco nodded his agreement, moving over to the desk in the room. He opened his satchel and pulled out a small bag.

"Here are her clothes. She'll dress herself, mostly, but she doesn't know how to tie laces yet so you'll need to help with her shoes. If she wakes up early, I have a book in the bag for her to read. If she gets hungry, don't give in to her begging. She can eat at breakfast like the rest of the world." Professor Snape nodded. Draco added finally, "If she gets out of hand, have her stand in the corner facing the wall."

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow. "You've fallen, Draco Malfoy," it was spoken softly, and with humor. It was also said in a voice Kagome shouldn't have heard. Of course, that wasn't taking into account that Kagome had sensitive hearing. Since the Shikon no Tama was a Dark Magic object that was connected to all things canine, and it had been inside her since before she was born, she'd ended up with a few canine-like sensitivities. Not many, but a few.

"Yeah, well, things happen," Draco scoffed. "If she gets to be too much for you, let me know and I'll just wake her up and take her with me to class."

Professor Snape nodded again. He reached out and grasped a piece of parchment from his desk, writing on it somewhat hastily. He handed the piece of parchment to Draco. "I raised a daughter of my own, Draco. I think I'll be okay. At least she isn't sixteen yet."

Draco rolled his eyes at Professor Snape. "You don't know Shiva."

"Get to class." Draco nodded. Professor Snape looked at Kagome briefly. He said nothing to her, but dismissed both students. If Kagome were to take a guess, she would have to say Professor Snape knew something about her that she didn't, but that was a silly notion, of course. He didn't know her.

The two of them left, and Kagome carefully picked her way back the way they came and led them outside. "Why are we going outside?" Draco asked her. She didn't respond, because she knew it was most likely a ploy to get her to speak and therefore, he wouldn't have to answer her questions later on. She led him to the Forbidden Forest. In the light of the moon, she could see the Grounds Keeper's hut. On the way across the lake in the boats, Hagrid had told her all about his wonderful little house.

"Why are we going into the Forbidden Forest?!" Draco asked. In answer to him, she only handed him his hourglass.

* * *

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	16. Etiquette

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

* * *

Chapter 16: Etiquette for Young Witches and Wizards

The classroom was a giant tree-house. They had climbed up a ladder tacked to the tree truck and entered through a trap door in the floor. There were doors of all sizes leading out of the room from every direction, and windows of every shape and size everywhere. Harry felt like he was inside an M.C. Escher portrait. It was dizzying.

Their jester-looking teacher's room seemed to match him perfectly. The room was painted in a swirl of rainbow colors so perfectly that it was hard to tell the dimensions of the room. While they were waiting for Kagome and Malfoy to show up, Professor Llywellyn had given them the time to chat and do whatever they wanted. Ron had tried to figure out where the wall was, but ended up walking into the wall because he thought the small window meant it was farther away.

It was even more difficult to tell the dimensions of the room because furniture was on the walls and ceilings as though that was the floor.

The room was filled with an assortment of furniture, though not one piece of it matched another, and not one piece of it was anything Harry would have expected to see in a normal classroom. For instance, there were no desks. There were bean cushions, love seats, recliners, couches, chairs that looked like giant eggs with a hole cut out and a yellow cushion inside it—which no one really wanted to sit in after Neville tried to and ended up rolling higgledy-piggledy around the room for five minutes before he managed to get out of it.

There were long poles like bird perches, flat cushions, square boxes hollowed out with chairs inside, cushions and chairs and couches that ran away when anyone tried to sit on them—as demonstrated when Cho tried to sit on a couch and Blaise Zabini tried to sit on a bean cushion. The bean cushion rolled out of the way and the couch hopped backward; both of them landed flat on their behind.

There were seats that bit the bottom of those who tried to sit on them, as demonstrated by Henry Gorpinork of Hufflepuff, and seats that simply vanished into thin air at will. There were footstools that snuck up on people and tripped them, footstools that grew to be nine times their normal size when sat upon, and seats that made farting noises when sat on as everyone saw when Harry had sat on a red chair.

Some seats were just barely large enough for a pixie, and some were large enough for a twenty foot creature as wide as a semi. Some seats flew around the room, others rolled, and others were chained to the wall. After Henry Gorpinork got his bottom bit by a seat _not_ chained to a wall, no one dared go by the ones that _were_ chained.

Despite that the room _looked_ ordinary from the outside (it just looked like a regular tree-house, and they had all wondered if they'd fit inside) it was a hundred times larger than it looked. The way the swirling colors were, made the room look like a sphere. When Harry looked down, he could have sworn he was standing in midair, too, because it looked like the room continued below him. If Harry looked close enough, however, (which was hard to do without getting dizzy enough to fall down) he could make out more directions to the ceiling than was really necessary, and the walls seemed built with the thought that squares were non-existent.

Harry thought Luna looked really happy to be in the room. She danced happily around the room for a while before she approached the teacher and found a common interest with him: Purvogriak Groumaprifkrouts mentioned in the recent edition of The Quibbler.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione found a safe place to sit on a couch made of blue wood. It had no cushioning, and looked more like a church pew, but it wasn't biting them or flying around the room or having a race with the egg chair, so they gratefully seated their rump on it.

All in all, the room was incredibly hectic looking. Some of the windows would open their shutters and reveal a scene that simply wasn't possible by the laws of physics and without the use of magic, before the window would slam its shutters. Some of the doors would also open onto a strange sight. A door not three feet from Harry had inched open, and he had leaned to catch a glimpse inside. What he saw was a long field. In the distance was a long neck dinosaur, lying dead on the ground and being eaten by a T-Rex. Then the door shut.

Harry hadn't told Ron or Hermione about that, mostly because he thought he was hallucinating. There was probably something in the air of the room that caused hallucinations.

"Thanks oh-so-much for joining us, Mr. Malfoy!" Professor Llywellyn drawled in irritation the minute Kagome showed up with Malfoy. "Be sure to show up for detention tonight. You're just lucky it's the first day, or else I'd break your wand."

Harry watched Kagome and Malfoy carefully as they entered the strange classroom. He was trying to figure out if the two of them had a bad confrontation that morning, but both were unreadable at the moment. In fact, if Harry guessed, he would've said the two looked like they'd never met the other person before in their life—which would be a lie, Harry knew.

The two other Slytherins in the class, Chaviah (who Harry didn't remember ever seeing in his years at Hogwarts) and Blaise, waved for Kagome and Malfoy to join them on a relatively safe seat. It was a love seat with more than enough cushioning and large enough for two of Hagrid. All four Slytherins were able to climb onto it and sit comfortably. Kiyoshi abandoned Harry for the more comfortable couch his mistress was sitting on. Malfoy—after handing the professor a slip of paper (which was immediately scoffed at and crumpled up by Professor Llywellyn)—sat on one end, with Chaviah next to him. Kagome sat on the other end of the couch, with Blaise between her and Chaviah.

"Alright, maggots!" Professor Llywellyn said. "Find a seat that doesn't bite. Mr. Finnigan, you squeal like a girl; take it like a man and find another seat. Miss Gravunger, please don't sit there. That chair sometimes bursts into flames and there's a running pool amongst the teachers for who will send a student to the hospital wing first. I don't want to be that lucky teacher. Mr. Longbottom, if you pet the stool's cushion, it will stop bucking."

Something green dropped on Harry's forearm; he looked up. A door on the ceiling had opened and was drooling green liquid on him. "Ew," he muttered.

Hermione handed Harry a kerchief and whispered, "You should always be _prepared_, Harry," before glancing back at their new teacher. Professor Llywellyn looked ready to pop. The bells on his curl-toed shoes jangled irritably as he tapped his foot.

"'Mione," Ron whispered, "Do you have another one of those cloth things?" Harry looked at his best friend and smirked. Ron's head was covered in the green goop.

"It's called a kerchief, Ron." Hermione said, handing one over.

"Whatever. I call it a 'get this green crap off me' thing." Ron's voice was disgusted as he swiped off as much of the goop as he could. "I vote we don't sit here."

Hermione had no goop on her. She said, "It's too late to move now, Ron. The class is nearly settled."

"Key word," Harry told her, and Ron nodded his agreement before Harry even finished.

In unison, Harry and Ron said, "Nearly."

"Oh, hush you two. This is going to be an important class."

Harry and Ron both rolled their eyes at their friend. They couldn't see anything important about a class for Etiquette. They both followed Hermione's direction though and pulled their text books from their bags. It was entitled, Etiquette for Young Witches and Wizards by Ilyes Llywellyn.

Ron pointed to the author's name and glanced pointedly at the teacher before looking again at Harry. "Another author for a teacher?" Ron asked, low enough that Hermione wouldn't hear. "Didn't Professor Dumbledore learn that doesn't work well for us?"

"MAGGOTS!" Ron and Harry jumped at the sudden shout. The entire room quieted. Even the flying furniture stopped and seemed to be paying attention to the professor. "Phoo!" the professor breathed, "This teaching thing is harder than I thought. Got a bunch of maggots all jumping off the walls! Okay, maggots," he started looking around and then swore violently enough to put a soldier in tears.

"I said I wanted that in the chair room! Honestly, don't the movers know its difficult moving enough? Honestly! I'm never using that moving service again!" He slammed out of the room…and came back in seconds later through another door…on the wall. Oddly enough, he was standing as though he were on the floor, just like the furniture on the wall. And he didn't appear to be straining to do so… He walked across the room to another door… and appeared on the ceiling.

Harry was sure he wasn't the only one confused and disturbed. Even Purebloods like Malfoy looked confused, so Harry realized such actions weren't natural or normal even in the wizarding world.

"Hey, maggots!" Professor Llywellyn shouted from the ceiling. "Have you seen a red, green, and blue object about yay tall," he held his hands as far apart as they would go, "and this big around," he made a circle with his fingers. Everyone started looking around themselves, various forms of 'no' being the teacher's answer.

As Professor Llywellyn was about to walk through another door, one of the doors opened and a bloody, muddy man fell out of it. With the door open, they could hear insane howling and yipping coming closer… and closer… A few people near that door leaned forward to try catching a glimpse of the inside, but the injured man got up and slammed the door shut with a petrified look on his face. Whatever it was that had been chasing him slammed into the door and began scratching at it, growling.

Professor Llywellyn looked curiously at the man in the plain gray robes with the words 'International Movers' stamped onto it. "Hey! You're not one of my students," the professor pointed out.

Professor Llywellyn turned from the door he had been about to enter, then climbed through a window and came in a window down behind Neville. He walked over to the man who was watching him warily.

Then, the professor was subjected to a rant. "WHO THE HELL KEEPS A PACK OF DAMN HYENAS IN THEIR HOUSE?! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO LODGE A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH THE COMPANY! YOU'LL SEE! WE WON'T EVER MOVE FOR YOU AGAIN! I'LL MAKE SURE NO COMPANY IN THE WORLD WILL HELP YOU MOVE FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE AND YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S GREAT-GREAT GRANDCHILDREN WILL STILL FEEL THE AFTERMATH OF THIS DAY!" It was a long-winded rant.

Professor Llywellyn scratched his chin thoughtfully before asking, "Have you seen a red, green, and blue object about yay tall," he held his hands as far apart as they would go, "and this big around," he made a circle with his fingers.

The man was taken aback by the politeness of the question. "No." he said somewhat hesitantly.

The professor's face twisted in irritation. "Then what good are you?!" he demanded. He opened the door the man had just shut and tossed the man inside with remarkable strength. The man screamed, but the professor just slammed the door. Jaws dropped around the room. "I WANT THAT OBJECT!" the professor yelled to the now terrified silence of the room. He snapped his fingers and twelve house elves popped into being around him. "Find the stick!" he yelled at the house elves.

"Yes, master!" the house elves chirped somewhat fearfully before some of them began racing around the room and others popped out of existence.

"He's insane," Ron mouthed to Harry. Hermione's lips were tight at the sight of house elves.

"I think he just sent a man to his death," Harry lipped back. "Is it safe to be with this guy? What if he works for Voldemort?"

A few minutes later, a house elf popped into the room in a fluff of smoke, trying to hold the item the professor had been asking for. It seemed to be very heavy. "Master wanted this?" the elf asked.

"Ah!" the professor was happy again and he took the item with no difficulty. He set it on the ground. "Now fetch us all some tea!" he told the elves. "And some of those tasty thingies I had at dinner last night. Those were good." The elves seemed to know whatever it was their master wanted. They scurried off through a random door that, once opened, emitted the sounds of a bustling kitchen.

Kagome asked hesitantly, "Did you just… kill that guy?"

Professor Llywellyn beamed at her. "No, Princess. I only chucked him out of my house. Now how about we don't ask any more stupid questions, mm? I'm evil, not insane." He pointed his wand at the object he had searched for and muttered something under his breath. Bright gold light shot from the end of his wand and collided with the multi-colored stick.

The object splintered, grew, splintered again, multiplied, the splinters fused together, and then the process repeated again and again until a giant chalk board was standing on wheels at the front of the room. Professor Llywellyn pulled what looked to be a piece of chalk in rainbow colors from a pocket in his jester outfit and spelled it so it would write on its own.

"Okay, my beloved class of maggots." He said, giving everyone a thumbs-up and winking at them all. They were all very unsure about him, and definitely uncomfortable around him.

* * *

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	17. The Bet

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

_THE ETIQUETTE CLASS WILL BE A VERY IMPORTANT CLASS, THAT IS WHY I AM FOCUSING ON IT. CHAPTERS WILL PROBABLY START GETTING LONGER AGAIN, AND WITH MORE TIME BETWEEN THEM._

* * *

Chapter 17: The Bet Between Pure and Mud

"Today you've come to join my beloved class of Etiquette! If you'll all take your books out and shuffle through it, you'll catch glimpses of all the things you won't learn in here." Professor Llywellyn cackled. Kagome was glaring at the professor. She had just watched as he tossed a man through a door behind which had been some rather hungry sounding animals, and none of the students present seemed at all perturbed.

Maybe it was just her, but the professor seemed completely insane despite his previous objections to the idea. She clamored off the massive sofa, standing to speak as was customary at the academy. Professor Llywellyn gave her his full attention and a raised eyebrow at her. "Yes, Princess?" he asked.

"I want to see that the man is alive." She said, speaking in her native tongue before she remembered she wasn't in Japan. Professor Llywellyn didn't scold her for it. Instead, he seemed more amused.

He responded in Japanese as well, his eyes twinkling with dangerous mischief. "And if he's dead?" Llywellyn inquired. "What will you do then? Wallow in grief? Send a postcard to his family saying 'Hi, I'm the great Dog Princess, and my teacher killed your son! Sorry about that!'" As he spoke, his hands moved and his voice took on a mocking edge.

Kagome clenched her fists and felt the anger rising in her. The whole class was watching her and Llywellyn like one watched an active Quidditch match. She knew the majority of them wouldn't understand what the two of them were saying. Draco Malfoy would if he retained any knowledge of the Japanese language, but other than him, Kagome figured the likelihood of someone else speaking Japanese was slim.

"Because," she said through grit teeth, still speaking in Japanese due to the fact that she didn't want them to know what she said next, "I need to know. I had a hard enough summer without my school year being filled with crazy people who kill on a seemingly random whim. You should know, if you know Sesshoumaru!"

Llywellyn laughed. "Alright," he said, reverting to English. "So you're looking only for yourself. That's selfish. Very _Slytherin-y_ from what I've been told." The whole class stared at her. He waved his hand flippantly in dismissal to the muttering that had begun. "Whatever though. I'll show you. Everyone leave your bags and hourglasses here and follow me for the tour."

Kagome frowned, watching Llywellyn skip back toward the door the man had been tossed out, bells jangling on his shoes and cap. The class stood with confusion, setting their things aside and moving after the professor. Kagome was going to go toward Llywellyn so she could be the first in line, but a hand held her back. She looked at the hand and followed it to Chavi.

"What was that about?" Chavi asked her. Blaise had stood up as well and was talking to Malfoy about something in an equally low voice. Kagome glanced back at Chavi, noting the look of worry Chavi wore. It wasn't very obvious, existing only in the other girl's eyes, but it was still there. "Are you okay?" Chavi asked.

"I just needed to know something about the Professor," Kagome said in excuse.

Malfoy and Blaise stepped over to Kagome and Chavi. The four of them headed toward where the class was filing out of the room through the door, led by Llywellyn. A brief glance through it showed they were being led outside. No animals appeared to be present. Harry and his friends fell into step behind the four Slytherins. Malfoy leaned forward to whisper in Kagome's ear, "So what happened this summer? …Did someone pay you a midnight visit?" She tensed as his words hit a little too close to home. He didn't know, she told herself. There was no way he could know. He was just guessing. "Did something have a late-night snack at your house?" He was a very good guesser.

"Shut up, Malfoy," she hissed, looking at him angrily. He knew something she didn't. She could tell by the smug look of amusement in his eyes. Why was everything so funny to him in the morning? "Why don't you tell me about your parents?" she asked. He visibly stiffened. "Why don't you tell me why they can't take care of Shiva?"

He seemed to force himself to respond without raising his voice. He probably would have liked to yell at her that it wasn't her business, but since he had asked personal questions first, he wouldn't want to appear a hypocrite.

He let a smile grace his beautiful features and breathed in her ear, "They've taken holiday in France." He chuckled and added, "A second honeymoon, you could say." His iceberg eyes met hers and she knew he was lying. While some people couldn't look a person in the eye while lying to them, Draco Malfoy could. He made a point to do it. "And why aren't you, the lovely Princess, with your… _foster_ family?"

Kagome also met his eyes. She didn't lie to him, because she knew he wouldn't tell anyone. "Because they're also on holiday… in the afterlife." He didn't look at all surprised. She pressed ahead of him, making it through the door, and saw that they were indeed outside now. They were in what looked to be a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest, the darkened trees seeming ominous in the early morning. It was still well before dawn, so most students were simply clustering near the light shining from the inside of the building.

"Welcome to the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts. As you'll notice, I have complete control over the door you walked through. I can tell it to lead me anywhere in or outside my house. If I wanted to go to the Great Hall in Hogwarts, I could tell it to lead me there." Professor Llywellyn called out.

The bushy haired girl back with Harry piped up, "But that's impossible! Apparating and the use of port-keys inside the Hogwarts grounds is not only against school regulations but its impossible because of the wards placed on the school!"

Professor Llywellyn gave the girl a wink. "The word impossible doesn't exist in this universe!" he told her. "Or at least in my universe! I never want to hear that word again. It's possible because of this," he pulled a diamond about the size of a ping-pong ball from his pocket and the girls in the class ooh'ed at it. "Inside this jewel is a spell connecting a plethora of doors together. I couldn't take myself to the Great Hall unless I connected the Great Hall doors to this one. So, no I can't right now, but it isn't impossible."

xXx

Harry wished he had been able to hear Malfoy's conversation with Kagome. It was apparent the two were talking by the way one or the other would tense up occasionally, but their backs were to him and they had spoken too softly. He knew Ron had strained to try hearing, but with Blaise and the girl Slytherin in the way, neither Gryffindor had been able to hear.

When Kagome practically dashed away from Malfoy, Harry was assured that whatever had been spoken between the two was not good. Malfoy and the girl Slytherin remained at the back of the class while Blaise went to join Kagome near the front, leaving no Slytherin standing alone since there were only four Slytherins in the class.

"I did tell you," Hermione hissed at the boys. "Even the professor says she's selfish. And did you see her with the Slytherins?"

"What?" Harry asked, "She looked friendly with them, I thought."

"That's just my point, Harry. She's friendly with the Slytherins, and only Slytherins could be friendly with another Slytherin! You know that!"

"Hermione, that's not fair," Ron stated logically. "I mean, yeah, she's a Slytherin, and we really should keep an eye on her, but we shouldn't automatically assume she's all bad," Hermione's eyes were narrowed to their deadliest intent.

"You aren't the one who's been called _mudblood_ for the past five years, Ron. They're all the same. They all treat me the same. She was put in Slytherin for a _reason_ Ron, and I highly doubt that reason had anything to do with her honorability." Throughout the whispered conversation, it was obvious Hermione wanted to scream and yank at her hair. For a second, Harry almost thought the girl would.

"There's got to be a good Slytherin _sometimes_," Harry tried, but Hermione didn't buy it.

"I have not met a good one, and I've had a run in with nearly every single one of them since being here." Hermione said.

Ron said, "Yeah, but look at what happened this summer," he frowned at the girl.

"Ron, that has nothing to do with anything." Hermione snapped. They had stopped outside, and the professor started to speak. Hermione turned to pay attention to the professor, while Harry decided to ignore the professor for the more interesting conversation, keeping his motions to a minimum to avoid catching Llywellyn's eyes.

He whispered to Ron, "What happened this summer?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Ron asked. Harry gave a minute shake to his head. "The ministry wanted to keep it hushed up, but they"—Harry guessed 'they' meant the Order of the Phoenix—"got hold of the information that Malfoy's mum is in St. Mungo's. Two days later, Malfoy was also checked into St. Mungo's. We wouldn't even know this stuff if mum hadn't started volunteering at the hospital. Me, Ginny, and Hermione ended up volunteering too, to go around and talk to some of the people and cheer them up. Ginny was the one who saw Malfoy."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"No clue. Snape was the one who brought Malfoy to the hospital, and Professor Dumbledore showed up later that day and spoke to Malfoy privately. Then the next thing we knew was happening—which mum wasn't happy about—was that dad and Charlie, and Kingsley and Lupin were taking turns staying with Malfoy." Ron shook his head. "I don't get it myself. Hermione and me and Ginny keep wondering if he was being guarded, or forcibly detained."

Hermione's hand shot up into the air so fast, she nearly clocked Ron upside the head. She rambled something about how apparating out of Hogwarts wasn't possible and the Professor seemed pleased she'd said anything at all.

He gave the girl a wink. He rambled on about things not being impossible and doors and showed the class a very pretty diamond he'd taken out of his pocket which received many gapes from male and female alike. Diamonds that big weren't often seen in any random jester's hands.

Great, now that Hermione had attracted attention to herself, Harry and Ron couldn't converse unless they managed to sneak away from her. She'd probably be offended and hit them both after class for it though, so they took the lesser of two evils and remained quiet.

"What spell is used to connect the doors?" Hermione inquired. "I have never heard of such a spell."

"Of course you haven't," Professor Llywellyn said, "because use of the spell in England is banned. You Englishmen always ban the fun spells." He looked thoughtful and scratched his chin. Harry wondered how they got talking about doors, and wondered if he should've kept his questions until later but shrugged it off mentally. He'd gotten some very useful information, and that was all that mattered to him. He could ask Hermione later how they ended up talking about doors. "Think of the spell like a similar form of transportation to using Floo Powder."

"But the Floo Network also has been disconnected in Hogwarts," Hermione pointed out.

Malfoy piped up, "The Floo Network isn't prohibited or unable to be used, Granger," in his most sarcastic 'I know more than you because you're just a mudblood' voice. It was curious how he didn't call her mudblood though… of course, there _was_ a teacher present… "It's only disconnected."

"Yes, but without authorization from the headmaster," Hermione said between grit teeth as she shivered from the morning chill, "a fireplace cannot be connected to the Floo Network, _Malfoy_."

"Ooh," Llywellyn said excitably, "we've got ourselves a debate! I love debates!"

Malfoy ignored the professor and turned to face Hermione. "You seem to think the Ministry _cares_ about having permission to do or not do what they want." He scoffed, "It's only out of fear that Dumbledore has the respect he has."

"Professor Dumbledore isn't respected because he's feared," Hermione stated clearly. "He's respected because he did great things that earned that respect."

"And Blast-Ended Skrewts are respected because they're cute," Malfoy drawled.

Professor Llywellyn's head darted back and forth between Hermione and Malfoy, a ridiculous grin on his face as his students argued and took time away from their lesson. And the more the two said, the further they got from the actual subject they were starting out with: Doors…or more particularly, whatever the subject may have been before doors.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts were a great lesson to study," Hermione said. "I don't understand why you have to be so incredibly cold toward Hagrid."

"Has the oaf been sacked yet? If not, I suppose I'll have to try harder this year."

"I'm not letting you get Hagrid sacked!" Hermione growled. "I don't care who your parents are or what bad influences you're acquainted to," Hermione was subtly accusing Malfoy of being part of the Death Eater's circle.

Malfoy opened his mouth to speak, but the girl next to him leaned over to whisper in his ear. After a brief pause, Malfoy's eyes narrowed at Hermione. "We've got a long year ahead of us, _Granger_. We'll see if the oaf stays or goes."

Harry saw Kagome was biting her lip, trying not to say anything as Blaise whispered in her ear. What was going on with Kagome? What was the dark skinned Slytherin telling Kagome, and what did Chaviah tell Malfoy?

"Oooh!" Llywellyn beamed at the two debating students. "A wager! I love those!" Did the teacher know or realize that someone's job was depending on his actions now? "Okay, I'll teach the door spell to whichever of you wins your wager." And there was no sanity left in the world when teachers got in on the actions of the students that could cause others pain.

Hermione, surprising all those people present who knew her rules-first personality, stuck her hand out toward Malfoy. "You're on." She said. "If you lose, you leave Hagrid alone for the rest of your life."

Malfoy smiled a twisted little smile. He clasped her hand—touching a mudblood, how very un-Malfoy-like—and shook it twice. "And if you lose, you quit school and live as a muggle for the rest of your pathetic life."

Hermione looked repulsed by Malfoy but she didn't drop his hand. She shook his hand in agreement. It appeared neither of them realized Professor Llywellyn even offered a prize to the winner because they were too intent on their own hatred of the other. Two seconds after the agreement had been made, they dropped the other's hand simultaneously and turned away from each other to—presumably—plot secretly in their heads.

"That was exciting!" Llywellyn giggled. "Okay, everyone. Inside and find your seats. All your text books should be out."

* * *

Thank you to my reviewers! 

Review, please!

I appreciate all your reviews!

NOTE: You are now caught up with me.


	18. Homework Assignment 1

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter 18: Homework Assignment #1

Kagome glowered at Malfoy as they resumed their seats inside the chair room. He was even more rotten than she remembered, and was even trying to make someone lose their job. How could Malfoy sleep at night knowing how awful he was? And he was taking care of a child? That poor child was going to grow up into a monster with his influence.

She sighed and knelt on the floor in front of the monstrous couch as the professor started to write on the chalk board with his rainbow chalk. She quickly took out a notes scroll and opened it, then took out her set of paint brushes and her ink, writing what the professor put on the board.

She had to push Malfoy out of her head for now so she could concentrate. Later, she promised herself. Later she would do what she could to be a proper influence in the little girl's life so she didn't turn out to be completely rotten. Never mind the fact that Malfoy would probably chew her head off if she even looked at the girl, but she had to give it a shot.

"Okay, maggots," Llywellyn said as his spelled chalk continued writing behind him. "Mr. Malfoy, I only have one rule: Never Miss A Class. Attendance is important. If you're even one second late, you will be considered not present and I will get you expelled."

Kagome glanced at Malfoy to see how he took this news. He had an eyebrow quirked, but surprisingly he did not bring up his powerful family connections like he used to in Primary School when he felt threatened. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. He simply reached into his bag, took out a quill and inkpot and a notes scroll, and got himself ready to take notes. A brief glance around the room told Kagome that many people were also surprised Malfoy said nothing, and that told Kagome that this silent behavior was a new thing only this year.

"Right then," Llywellyn twirled his wand in his long fingered hand and scratched behind one pointed ear. "All you English maggots are about to be overloaded with information you would not normally learn since it is foreign theory and of course anything not English is not true in England." He rolled his eyes at that and continued on. "Do you recognize the chart on the board, Princess?" he asked her, glancing at her with a penetrating brown-eyed stare. She flushed at the title but nodded. "What is it?" he asked.

She stood up to answer, as she was used to doing at the Magic Academy. "It is the Roemaru's Diagram." She answered and then sat back down. The diagram on the board was three circles, each connected by lines to form a triangle. "Seirei (spirit)" was written inside the top circle. The bottom left circle had "Shitai (body)" written in it while the bottom right circle had "Reikon (soul)" inside it. The Spirit circle was drawn in purple, the Body circle was drawn in red, and the Soul circle was drawn in blue.

"Can you explain the diagram, Mr. Malfoy?" Llywellyn asked. "I know you learned this in Primary."

Malfoy didn't bother standing. "According to Roemaru," Malfoy started, "the body is created of three parts: the body, the spirit, and the soul. Magical power is the spirit alone, given material form, but it can be given a material form only when separated from the body and soul. The diagram shows how difficult it would be to separate the spirit from the body and soul to create magical power."

"Well, at least the last six years haven't mooshed your brain," Llywellyn muttered. "Does anyone not understand so far?" The bushy haired girl by Harry raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"What does this have to do with etiquette?" she asked in confusion.

Llywellyn blinked several times and then a look of dawning crossed his face. "Oh! Ahahahaa!" He seemed to be pleased with something internally. "I totally forgot! And here I am, jumping the gun. Here." He waved a wand at the chalk board and the writing disappeared. The chalk practically flew across the board. Directions appeared on the board. "I don't like paperwork," the professor said loudly, "so today's homework is this! Hmm, I guess that's it for class. I can't really do anything unless you maggots know what you're learning. Some days you might get out of here early, and some days the class may take all the timeslot. On your way back to the school, be sure to stick to the path. My beloved pets are outside right now going potty."

And he was gone before anyone could do anything, through a door embedded with jewels. The house elves didn't even have time to bring out the tea they were all supposed to have. There was a sudden flurry of chatter as students looked about them in confusion. Kagome ignored the hubbub and wrote down the directions for the homework—even if it did confuse the hell out of her. What the hell was wrong with Llywellyn to give an assignment like the one he did?

**Directions for homework:**

**1. ****Sign your full name (including middle name) on the inside cover of your text book. By doing this you are agreeing to keep your trap shut on all and everything discussed and learned within this classroom.**

**2. ****After signing your full name on the inside cover, submerge the book in salt water.**

**3. ****Hit the text book with five stunning spells. **

**4. ****Beat the text book with your fist ten times. **

**5. ****Kick the text book down fifteen stairs (book must hit all fifteen before coming to a stop).**

**6. ****Throw the text book twenty feet into a wall.**

**7. ****Stab the text book twenty five times with a sharp, pointy object. **

**8. ****Write or doodle obscenities on thirty pages.**

**9. ****Rip out thirty five pages from the text book and burn them.**

**10. ****Bite text book forty times.**

**Must be complete before class on Wednesday! I will break the wand of those who do not follow the above instructions. – Nells. **

**PS!! LEAVE YOUR HOURGLASS ON YOUR SEAT.**

After his name, there was a little squiggle that looked almost like a heart.

Kagome packed her things up and stood, slinging her bag strap over her neck. She looked at Chavi who was waiting for her. All around them, people were shuffling about and getting ready to leave. Blaise was talking to Malfoy a few feet away. Kagome smiled at Chavi. "I think we got a real winner for a professor," Kagome joked. "My best friend would love this guy."

Chavi smirked back at her. "Yeah, but he sure is secretive about an etiquette class, eh?" Chavi asked. "Come on, it's early still." She looked at a watch on her wrist and sighed, "Too early. I could do with a bath, and it looks like you could do with a bath and several brushes."

Kagome grinned. "Did someone say bath?" she absolutely loved baths. She could soak for hours and never regret the lost time. She followed Chavi toward the trap door and noticed Harry and his friends were just climbing out of it. Blaise and Malfoy fell into step with the Slytherin girls. Once they'd exited through the trap door and climbed out of Llywellyn's strange tree-house (just how _did_ they manage to get outside on the ground of the forbidden forest through that door anyway?) Kagome glanced at Chavi and Blaise. "I'll be right back," she told her new friends.

"Forget something?" Blaise asked.

"No, not this time," Kagome said. "I just want to catch up with Harry. I never got the chance to thank him." She looked down at her feet where her cat was trotting to keep up. "Up, Kiyo," she told the cat, and the creature launched itself onto her shoulders. She smiled at her friends, "See you in a bit," she told them and then glared at Malfoy, "_Imp_," she growled, and then hurried on ahead. She knew Chavi and Blaise were surprised to find that the 'imp' she'd spoken of on the train was Malfoy (though why would they be surprised?).

As she went ahead of the procession of students, weaving and darting around Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, she heard a few comments about the length of her skirt and how it was 'just like a Slytherin' to wear indecently short skirts. She ignored them and continued ahead, her robe billowing out behind her. She managed to catch up to Harry.

"Harry!" she called. He stopped to look back at her and smiled when he saw her. The bushy haired girl and the red-head also stopped. The red-head's eyes immediately went to Kagome's legs in the graying dawn, and the bushy haired girl looked thoroughly disgusted by Kagome's presence for some reason. "Hey, I never got a chance to thank you," Kagome told Harry.

-

Harry glanced at Kagome, surprised she'd sought him out. She looked very comfortable talking to the Slytherins that he figured she wouldn't need him as a friend—despite how unlikely it seemed for her to simply drop a friendship. Granted, she did seek him out earlier in the entrance hall, but a glance at Hermione told him the brown-haired girl did not want to be in the presence of the transfer student. It was surprising since Hermione had been the one so excited over the coming of a new transfer student.

"Hey Kagome," he said, feeling a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden, since his friend Hermione had an illogical hate for Kagome. Yes, Hermione had been burned a lot, and yes Harry also had a habit of categorizing people immediately in the 'good' or 'bad' pile (regardless of whether they really were good or bad), but couldn't Hermione give Kagome the benefit of the doubt? "What are you thanking me for?"

"Your help this summer." She said simply. "Um, and I have a favor to ask." Hermione looked quite like she had seen this coming ahead of time. "Harry, um, if you could just…" Kagome looked at Harry's friends uneasily.

"May as well say it," Hermione frowned. "Harry would just tell us anyway."

Harry shot a dirty look at Hermione. "Stop it, Hermione," he said quietly. He grabbed Kagome's hand and walked ahead with her. Once they were out of the forest, he headed for the lake instead of going toward the castle. Both teenagers were silent on the way, and once there, Harry released her hand. They stood in the gloom of the morning, watching the lake surface as little waves lapped against the shore.

Harry recognized the place they stood from Snape's pensieve. Harry's father used to lay here fiddling around with a snitch and messing up his hair, didn't he? Probably periodically torturing Snape… "What is it you want, Kagome?" Harry asked, fiddling with the wand in his pocket. It hummed in his hand, singing to be used. "

"It's not much," Kagome assured him and turned to look at him. "I just… I really would rather not have everyone know about the Shikon. I was hoping you'd keep it a secret. The less people know, the less people will want it, you know?"

He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He thought she was going to ask something else; he didn't know what else she would've asked, but he didn't expect that! On Kagome's end, she didn't want what she had in the Magic Academy after everyone found out about the jewel. She had no doubt the word would eventually get around, but she hoped she could be here a little while before she became the next famous person at Hogwarts.

He nodded. "Sure, Kagome. I can do that." He looked her over; she appeared to have thrown herself together rather haphazardly that morning. Her hair was up in a ponytail that looked worse than Ron with bed-head syndrome. She'd altered the length of her skirt so it was short like her Magic Academy uniform; he guessed from the red scratch marks on her knees the length had irritated her. She was far from the pristine perfect example of a regular Slytherin with her skewed robes, improperly knotted tie, and she was already missing a button on her blazer.

"Thanks Harry," Kagome said and hugged him so abruptly he nearly fell over. Was it his fault he was surprised when women threw themselves at him? No, as it wasn't exactly a regular occurrence. Sure, he had fans, but they at least abstained from literally gluing themselves to him (thankfully). Kiyoshi fell off her shoulders and meowed at his mistress in annoyance.

But this little hug warmed him a little. Sure he was blushing like a maniac, but he just felt like a big brother. He couldn't explain the feeling, and he didn't know whether or not he was even qualified material for 'big brotherness', but he still found himself wrapping his arms around the girl and returning the hug. He didn't worry about people seeing them and getting ideas. It was still early enough in the morning that all people would see if they saw them were two vague people forms; it was too dark yet to see defining features from a distance.

"Thanks so, so much Harry," Kagome breathed in his ear. "And good luck in Sesshoumaru-sama's class if you have him." She smiled and pulled away from Harry. "Sesshoumaru-sama seems cold, but he's really not."

Harry jammed his hands in his pockets again. They started walking toward the school. "He's your Guardian, isn't he?" At Kagome's nod, he continued, "So with him coming to teach here, that's probably why you were transferred schools."

"That'd by my guess," Kagome told him. Kiyoshi trotted alongside Harry.

They were silent for a few steps and then Harry asked, "Was that Romuro's Diagram thing what you explained in Diagon Alley?"

"Roemaru's," Kagome corrected him. "And yes, it was. The diagram he drew wasn't complete yet because the finished diagram normally shows what you get after you successfully separate the body and soul from the spirit." She dug in her bag and pulled out her notes scroll. "I think I have an example of the completed diagram."

She opened the scroll, rolling it back up on the other side as she did it so she wouldn't have a mile-long page of notes to fuss with. It didn't take long to come across the diagram and she showed it to him despite that he couldn't read Japanese. It was hard to see in the dark, but then they got inside the entrance hall and could stand beneath one of the many torches while she showed him.

"See, here is the Body circle," she explained, having him hold one end of the scroll so she had a free hand, pointing to the red circle, "and this is the Soul circle," she pointed to the blue circle. She then ran a finger along the red line connecting the Spirit circle to the Body circle. "The Body goes to the Spirit through this," she ran a finger along the blue line connecting the Soul circle and the Spirit circle, "and the Soul goes to the Spirit through this, unlike the Body and Soul which can only mold together if attached to the Spirit. But to create Maryoku," she pointed to the white colored smaller circle in the very center of the strange triangle pattern, "or Magical power, you have to unmold the Body and Soul from the Spirit. This is the completed diagram."

"Like a peanut butter sandwich," Harry murmured.

"What?" Kagome asked.

"Nevermind," he told her. "So who is this Roemaru guy?"

"Roemaru is the founder of the Magic Academy. In the Feudal Era, around the time when the jewel was created, those humans with magical power were trained by priests and priestesses for the extermination of demons, and demons were trained by their fellows until Roemaru—a half-breed—thought to come up with this theory and created the school based upon this theory rather than based on the idea that demons and humans access magic completely differently." She saw Chavi and Blaise waiting for her by the entrance to the dungeons and waved to them. "That's why humans and demons both go to the Magic Academy," Kagome added. "Because magic is magic and it works the same for everyone. But I have to go. I really need a bath."

Harry handed her scroll back to her and she rolled it up and put it in her bag. "Don't be a stranger just because you're a Slytherin," he joked. "I haven't really had the chance to introduce you to my friends. Hermione's not really as cold as she seems," he turned her words right back at her and she smiled. "She's just had bad luck with Slytherins."

"Well, I won't be trying to change her view of me," Kagome admitted. "She can think of me what she likes… I've always been that way. It's too hard to keep up with school work and make everyone like me, so I simply let people come to their own conclusions. But I'll talk to you again later, okay?" He nodded and she left him to his musings, watching her as she returned to Blaise and Chavi. Malfoy wasn't present, so where was he?

And why was Malfoy limping constantly? What had happened to him that he was hospitalized over the summer? Harry hated all the questions that were popping up so early in the morning. Instead of contemplating further by himself, he trod off to find Ron and Hermione.

Both of them were slumped in the Gryffindor common room near the fire in a state of half-sleep and half-wake, as if neither felt they even had the energy to go to the dorms. Ron hadn't even bothered to stop at a wash room and get the green goo completely washed off, although neither had Harry. Harry only got it on his arm and clothes though, whereas Ron was near completely drenched in the stuff by the end of the class.

Harry on the other hand was now completely awake, but he didn't want to disturb his friends if they were nearly asleep so he headed quietly as possible up to the dorms—anyone from his dorm who'd been in the class was now sleeping again—and he got together his potions work and headed out of Gryffindor tower again. He figured what with his 4 AM class and all, he wouldn't get into trouble for being out after curfew so he didn't take his invisibility cloak and sauntered down to the kitchens.

Dobby was, as usual, very happy to serve Harry Potter. He provided Harry with whatever it was he asked for, even as the house elves bustled away to prepare things for breakfast several hours from then. Harry thanked Dobby for the food (Dobby had given him more than he asked for, when all he wanted was a few biscuits to tide him over until breakfast) and used the homework excuse to sneak away. That wasn't bothering to note that he really did need to finish his potions homework—Ron hadn't been able to successfully sneak Harry his copied assignment.

With that in hand, Harry headed back outside to sit on the dewy grass beneath the tree under which his father used to sit. By the time he got outside it was close to seven AM and he didn't have to use his wand for light. He settled to work, sternly telling himself he needed to complete the assignment. But that sack of food Dobby had given him was so tempting… he could just put the assignment down for a few moments, right?

That's what he did. After all, the work wasn't due until later that day.

-

Draco Malfoy gently pressed a platinum blond curl out of his sleeping little sister's face. He'd gone to get her as soon as he, Blaise, and Chavi reached the castle again. He could no longer stand being separate from Shiva, but then again they _had_ survived an awful summer together.

As soon as he had her, he lay with her on the couch by the fire in the common room. This spot was probably the warmest place one would ever manage to find in Slytherin house; not even under covers would one be warmer—unless of course one was partaking in activities not meant for children such as his three-year-old sister. He had done that plenty of times before, but not anymore.

Shiva shivered so he wrapped her baby blanket closer to her chin and pulled her closer to his chest, one arm wrapped around her and the other making sure the blanket was firmly in place. He'd gotten used to the chill of the dungeons; years in Slytherin taught him the temperature wasn't going to change so he would simply have to make due.

Shiva mewled and curled further into the Ice Prince as whatever she was dreaming turned into a bad nightmare. "Shh," he whispered in her ear, smoothing her hair against her head again, "Draco's here… Draco won't let anything happen to his Princess…" he promised, kissing the top of her head.

"Daddy," she cried piteously.

Draco found himself growing angry that Lucius was again what plagued her. Lucius Malfoy was nothing but a betrayer of his own blood, and Draco was a fool to ever place stock in his father's manipulative words of grandeur. Lucius had indeed gotten what was coming to him—death. Draco's only regret was that he wasn't the one to lay the final blow. Oh how he would've loved to rip Lucius's throat out with his teeth and claw into his flesh until his body was no longer recognizable as something that had once walked and talked.

It was because of Lucius that Shiva had nightmares. It was because of Lucius that Draco and Shiva's mother was in intensive care at St. Mungo's. It was because of Lucius that Draco found himself having to care for a three-year-old while simultaneously attempting to finish his schooling and in the meantime, stay alive and _sane_.

He had a great deal of things he needed to be doing at that moment. Planning how to survive with Shiva during Christmas Break was a good idea. Despite that some people would argue that Christmas was still months away, Draco was never one to go without a plan. Aside from that, he practically had a hundred thousand galleon reward hung over his head—wanted Alive… at least for now.

It wasn't an option to leave Shiva behind either. As if he would trust someone to keep her safe. He trusted Snape well enough; Snape was his godfather. But he wouldn't leave Shiva alone for so long.

"What have we here?" Draco heard the voice a few feet above his head and immediately sat up, knowing better than to attempt to ignore it when he was alone. These people meant business… they _always_ meant business. "A lone Prince…"

Draco slapped on a scowl very characteristic of him, cradling his tiny sister to him with one arm and taking his wand out with the other. Shiva, unaware of what was occurring, remained sleeping in her nightmare.

There were two sides of Slytherin house. Neither side was particularly good or nice. From the first day he was sorted into Slytherin, he immediately found out which side he would be on for the rest of his life, and it wasn't siding with the greater part of Slytherin where anything goes. Instead, the Malfoy found himself ridiculously afraid of blood—a very unusual thing for a person of his blood line, and who he was raised to serve.

"You will be the Dark Lord's favored," was what Lucius used to say. When Shiva was born, Draco and his mother had pleaded for Lucius to keep Shiva a secret from the Dark Lord. This meant hiding her from fellow Death Eaters. They had known Voldemort would return. The signs of his return were everywhere, not to mention how Harry Potter kept having scrapes and scuffles with the heir to Slytherin.

They hadn't known when Voldemort would return, or how long Lucius would remain silent about Shiva, but they had to try. Shiva was too precious to receive the same _expectant _youth Draco had. He was trained ruthlessly by his father and other Death Eaters while outside of school. He rarely had a break. All they had to do was keep Shiva safe at least until she was four.

Once she reached age four, she could go to Primary School at the Magic Academy just like Draco had and they would only have to keep her safe two months out of the year from Lucius and the other Death Eaters, as they had known Shiva's growth would make Lucius want to treat her harshly and have her assume 'the perfect role of daughter'.

Before Draco stood Kyle Marcus, one of the greasiest members of the meaner (and larger) side of Slytherin. Draco knew a great deal about Kyle; he was a cousin of Flint Marcus, but he was smarter than Flint and at age twelve, Kyle had already killed the first of what would become many victims.

His first victim had been his mudblood mother who ran off in fear of her life just after Kyle was born seventeen years ago. Kyle had searched her out and strangled her with his bare hands. Kyle was a bulky, but muscular Slytherin with black hair coated in enough axel grease he was practically a walking fire hazard if anyone managed to hit him with a good incendiary spell.

However, despite being a giant of a man, he was graceful. His beady black eyes saw everything and he was very quick on his feet. Behind him stood Heston Graybin—a green eyed, brown-noser—and Norm Treffer—a four-foot tall red-head with a temper twelve times worse than an angry Hermione Granger.

Graybin and Treffer had yet to actually take a life as far as Draco knew, but they _did_ enjoy using the cruciatus curse on small animals whenever they could. Draco's familiar had been a 10-week old kitten back in first year. He loved cats, as girlish as that seemed. He'd named her Daffy—in his eyes, Daffy was a more manly name than Daffodil—but when he ended up in the side of Slytherin that was less cruel, Treffer went off his rocker and tortured Daffy until Blaise socked him in the face. Draco might've done something as well, except he was too busy sobbing over the writhing, pained kitten and he couldn't think of anything else except that sight—not of stopping it.

Since that day, Draco hadn't bothered with familiars. He couldn't always be there for the animal to protect it, and he _loathed_ the idea of leashes. _He_ would never wear a leash; therefore, he would never make his familiar wear one.

His arm around Shiva tightened a bit as he sat there staring at the three Slytherins. The area around the fire was _his space_. They knew that. "So what if I'm alone?" Draco sneered at them. "We both know which one of us would walk away in a quandary."

Kyle's eyes sparked with wicked mirth. "Maybe if it were you _alone_." He glanced pointedly at Shiva. Draco knew what he was aiming at. He wasn't above harming a defenseless three-year-old.

It didn't matter to Kyle that Draco had already been initiated as a Death Eater, or even that Draco had the Dark Mark branded into his arm— _just like Kyle would have now._ What mattered to Kyle was that Draco had taken his mother and sister and run away from Voldemort when Voldemort wanted him the most. Truly Voldemort was a disgusting man. The only thing Draco wanted from Voldemort now was the satisfaction of rending his flesh from his corpse.

Apparently abandoning the Dark Lord like Draco had done was frowned upon—severely. _Maybe there should be a Death Eater's Handbook of Do's and Don'ts,_ Draco thought ironically. _Do kill your mother. Do kill your sister. Do NOT betray the Dark Lord._

Draco was so lost in his thoughts he nearly missed Kyle raising his wand and aiming it at Shiva (thinking was not exactly something he should be doing at the moment). He didn't think twice, but wrapped himself around Shiva and instead of hitting her, the spell crashed into him. He knew instantly it was a cruciatus curse. He'd had this spell done to him innumerable times that summer to know what one felt like. It was only through sheer force of will that he managed to keep from screaming in pain, and only the fact that he did not want Shiva to wake up and see him like he was kept him from writhing.

Kyle didn't dare let the curse kill Draco. Voldemort wanted his 'pet' alive. When the intense pain finally subsided, Draco brushed the pained tears out of his eyes and forced himself upright. He knew he was paler than he usually was—and that was saying something. He also knew the many injuries on his leg would need to be rewrapped, because doubtlessly the spell coursing through him, wracking his insides, had opened the wounds.

He stood on shaky legs. Kyle was gone before the curse even stopped. Very soon students were going to start getting up for breakfast. Draco, however, returned to his bedroom. He placed Shiva on his bed and covered her up. At least in here, though it was colder than the highest mountain top, he was safe. He was so used to being feared by his fellow Slytherins.

Last year, he could be perfectly alone in the Common Room, no friends about him, but twenty Slytherins from the worse side could be there and yet they would not touch him whether it was because they knew he was more powerful than them or whether it was his family connections… they never pulled a trick like that last year. Shiva was a danger to him, as he was to her. She was a weak point in his defense.

He fell onto the bed and curled up around his sister, ignoring the little fires of agony that shot up his leg when it was bent and didn't want to be. He didn't care about that. She could _be_ a weak spot. He would protect her, just as he had promised his mother before the woman slipped in a coma. He looked at the new wand in his hand. Surprisingly it had not broken with as hard as he'd been clenching it.

He set the wand on the bed stand and wrapped his arms around his sister, trying to calm his erratic breathing. He could see now why Harry-bloody-Potter fought against the Dark Lord. It was because to Voldemort, nothing was sacred. Promises were made in vain and never kept. Safety wasn't as safe as it sounded, and job security was zero-to-none. There would always be someone to take a Death Eater's place.

_I'll get it first,_ Draco thought, watching his sister through dilated pupils. _If I get it, he can't have it. Why the hell did that blood traitor even tell him about it? The tales had been lost for centuries; it was hidden well in the Department of Mysteries. Did he even realize what damage he was doing? …I have to get it first. _

But before he could get 'it', he definitely needed to plan things out… such as where he could go with Shiva over Christmas. He was safe enough in Hogwarts, but he wasn't so sure he could handle being cooped up knowing Voldemort was after the same thing he was going after. He'd tried getting it once—and failed. But he didn't exactly plan things out very well. This time he would do better.

* * *

I really appreciate the feedback guys. Keep it up!

I think this chapter has a sort of _wrong_ feeling to it, like something about it is off. My friend Feather agrees with me, but neither of us are really sure what I did wrong!


	19. Draco Quits Quidditch

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter 19: Draco Quits Quidditch

Harry met up with his Gryffindor friends at breakfast. Many of them greeted him cheerfully, as if they hadn't just reunited the night before at the feast. Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom sat across from a freshly washed Ron. Ginny was beside Hermione, and there was a seat between Ron and Hermione for Harry to sit in.

As he walked toward his seat, his eyes glanced over at the Slytherin table. Kagome was over there, obviously since she was a Slytherin now (or had she always been?), and she appeared to be having a very humored conversation with the blond girl from that morning's class. Blaise was across from Kagome and most importantly… Draco Malfoy was no where to be seen.

Harry was confused. What was up with Draco this year? He had received what seemed like a direct barb from a teacher and he didn't drawl out about how his great family connections would save his hide from expulsion.

As Harry was thinking about Draco and filling his plate up with eggs and bacon, he saw Professor Snape walking along the length of the Slytherin table to inform the students of something. He seemed to speak to several at a time. Once he had left his place beside Blaise Zabini, there was a bit of a discussion between Blaise and the blond before the blond got up and left the Great Hall.

Harry shook his head and fished out his schedule, turning to the conversation Ron was holding with Hermione overtop his head. "I'm just saying that bet was really dumb to make, 'Mione," Ron told the girl. "I mean, now Malfoy is really going to try to get Hagrid sacked!"

"He's _been_ trying all along, Ronald," Hermione snapped, "and I won't let him get Hagrid sacked either! Besides, Dumbledore would never fire Hagrid and therefore I automatically will win the bet."

Okay, so turning to the conversation between his best friends wasn't the place he wanted to be. He looked at his schedule and interrupted his friends. "Hey, Ron, we've got Divination first thing!" he said.

Hermione's lips pursed. "I don't see why you two are taking that class still. Trelawney was fired last year by Umbridge so you'll actually have to do work"—Ron stuffed Harry's schedule under Hermione's nose (and Harry's attached limb) and pointed at the teaching professor's name—"I cannot believe Professor Dumbledore would actually rehire her!" Hermione grumbled.

"She's a _great_ teacher," Lavender Brown hissed, "I cannot believe that hag Umbridge _fired_ her!"

"Oh, please!" Hermione said, "You were so hyped up that the centaur was taking her place!"

"Hmph, you're just _jealous_ because you don't have the Sight." Lavender said and gathered her things. She bustled out of the hall with a few other Trelawney fans following at a brisk pace.

"I am most certainly _not_ jealous!" Hermione scowled. "I believe I am going to head to Ancient Runes early." She plucked a muffin off the table and finished her juice before heading out of the Great Hall. Almost everyone knew what Hermione thought of the idea of 'Divination', especially when the word was combined with the name 'Professor Sybil Trelawney'. After all, Divination was probably the first thing Hermione had ever given up on in her entire life.

Ah, yes, that was a pleasant memory—sort of—watching Hermione storm out of Divination.

For Harry, Divination was an easy 'O'. All he had to do was predict his death a few times and he made the grade. Trelawney really liked melodramatic deaths, and even more than that, she _loved_ death with gore attached. Harry could simply let his imagination run wild. He supposed that half-plotting his own death on a daily basis had started to leave him numb toward the idea that someday soon he might be offed by Voldemort. Well, of course a few near death encounters and several escapes from Voldemort's clutches added to that sense of immortality, but it didn't really buffer that _too_ much.

"Well," Ron swallowed some food and his cheeks were tinged pink, "I guess, she's gone…" Harry wondered if Ron realized he was staring at Hermione's seat as if expecting the girl to simply appear. She wouldn't, but he was looking like he wanted her to.

"I guess so," Harry sighed. "What other classes do we have today anyway?" He looked at his schedule, reclaiming it (and his hand) from Ron's grip. "Divination, Charms, and Double Potions. Day starts out with death threats, and ends with it too." Harry scratched his chin, "What a dramatic way to begin every week for the next year."

Ron grinned, "I'm already looking forward to the holidays, mate." He laughed.

"Ah well, want to head up to Grim Tower now?" Harry asked. Ron shoved a napkin filled with scones in his bag and nodded with a grin. They got up and started toward Trelawney's tower classroom. Harry finally would get a chance to ask questions he'd been plagued by all morning. "So, Malfoy was in the hospital? What else do you know about it? Anything?"

"Really don't know all that much, mate," Ron said apologetically. "It only happened recently. First his mum was checked in to the hospital, and then Snape brought Malfoy in. Ginny said he looked really bad though, and I overheard dad talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt saying Malfoy looked like he'd been tortured until his body started tearing apart 'cause of the spell, and Lupin said it looked more like he'd been attacked by a starving werewolf."

Harry winced slightly as the thought of being mauled by a werewolf came to his mind. That would _have_ to be painful. "It probably wasn't a werewolf, though…" Harry said, "Surely he wouldn't be in school after that…"

"I don't know, mate, but I _do_ know he disappeared from the hospital. There was a _big_ argument over it, 'cause it happened right when Bill and Kingsley showed up to relieve dad and Lupin of their post watching Malfoy." Ron stuffed a scone in his mouth and chewed noisily, then began talking with his mouth full. "I mean, ya know, poof he was gone. That was just a week ago."

"A week ago?" Harry asked. A week ago, he saw Draco in Diagon Alley.

"Uh huh. Of course, Snape was seen in the hospital a week ago too. Bet Snape busted Malfoy out," Ron said thoughtfully, "like, some strange Death Eater camaraderie going on there…"

"I saw Malfoy in Diagon Alley a week ago," Harry confided. Ron looked at him in surprise. "Looked like something the cat drug in, seriously. Fred and George saw him too. He ordered a hundred galleons of NoseBleed Nougat."

Ron's face scrunched up in disgust. "Ugh, I can't believe Fred and George would do business with that ferret!"

"Well, they didn't want to," Harry said. "It was their assistant."

"Damn. Stupid Malfoy," Ron grumbled.

They had made it to the tower finally and sat down to wait for the trap door to open. They had learned in previous years that attempting to climb into the room when the trap door wasn't lifted would be useless, so they weren't about to try it _now_.

"Give me one of those scones," Harry told his friend, wondering again why he said they should go to Divination early. Maybe Hermione was starting to affect his brain functions simply by being around him. Ron tossed him one across the platform—they were sitting across from each other, leaning up against opposing walls.

"What'll Malfoy do with that much nosebleed nougat?" Ron asked. "I mean… that's a freaking lot. I think I'm going to watch what I put in my mouth from now on." He stuffed his mouth with a scone again. Harry grinned to himself at Ron's almost careless motion. "If I were Malfoy, I'd never go to Potions again." He grinned.

Harry grinned silently and wondered if he ought to tell Ron of the other things he'd heard should be brought up yet, like how Malfoy and Kagome didn't get along (actually, they appeared to hate each other more than Malfoy hated Harry himself which was quite a feat), and how he needed a new wand because something happened to his old one…

"I—" Harry started, but a drawling voice cut him off.

"If you were me, Weasel, you'd have the money to afford clothing that actually _fit_." Both Harry and Ron got to their feet as they recognized that voice. What was Draco Malfoy doing in the Divination tower? Flanking him, as was usual, was Crabbe and Goyle, and not far off was the blond from that morning's class and Blaise. Harry and Ron both had their wands out at the first sign of the Slytherin's voice, but it seemed if Malfoy wanted a fight, the boys were probably not going to come ahead no matter how well they knew spells.

However… a strange sight met the two Gryffindors. Poking a nose around Draco's leg in a rather shy manner was a tiny, curly blond haired child with the same iceberg colored eyes as Draco, and the same pale colored skin. She was rather cute. She had a tiny button nose and wide, innocent eyes. She wore a fancy ball gown made of dark green silk with long, billowy sleeves and a bell-bottom. Tiny silver snakes were embroidered into the gown sporadically. Her feet were covered by little green dress shoes with silver silk ribbons as laces. Her outfit looked tailored to her, and (considering her social appearance with the likes of Draco Malfoy) probably cost more than the Weasley's whole house was worth.

Harry's first thought was, "What happened to Parkinson?" because she seemed pretty much the only thing missing from Draco's entourage.

However, he was quickly put back in his place by a sharp laugh from the blond girl and a deep scowl on Draco's face. Why couldn't Harry remember what her name was? It was said only that morning…

"She's _not_ Pansy," Draco sneered and the little girl looked up at Draco with doe-wide eyes.

"Is Dee-dee mad at Shiva?" the child simpered, already looking like she was going to start the waterworks.

"No," Draco grumbled as Blaise snickered and Crabbe and Goyle seemed to glare down at the girl. "Draco isn't mad at you." He promised and Harry and Ron looked on in confusion. Twenty seconds ago, both Gryffindors thought they had been cornered by a bunch of Slytherins who would hex them into oblivion. It wouldn't have been the first time a Gryffindor was outnumbered by the Slytherins after all.

"What…" Harry began, unsure of what to say. Draco was talking in third person to a child who had to be younger than a five year old by the look of her. Harry couldn't claim that he was very familiar with the ways of the wizarding world, but he _did_ know that he'd never seen anyone younger than eleven in Hogwarts, or at least he was pretty sure he hadn't. They didn't just flit out of nowhere… and she didn't look like she was a magically-de-aged witch because her eyes were that of someone who knew very little pain and suffering.

The blond girl from class stepped forward and shoved by Crabbe. "Drake," she said quietly though everyone present could hear her, "Don't start a fight. I'm just not in the mood for patching your hide up when you get your royal arse handed to you."

Harry nearly laughed at the annoyed look on Draco's face and it appeared Ron had trouble keeping himself from laughing too. However, neither really wanted to incur the wrath of the Slytherin (at least when they were cornered) so they bit their tongues to keep silent.

"You have so little faith in my abilities," Draco drawled carelessly.

Finally Harry remembered the girl's name. Chaviah Melody, that was it, right? Just as Llywellyn had said it was? Chaviah rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "I have full faith that your abilities just don't match up to Potter or Weselfurt."

"That's _Weasley_," Ron scowled.

"Whatever," Chaviah said, though her tone seemed _almost_ apologetic. Really, after all the teasing Ron got over his name, how could anyone screw it up so badly? "Drake, I'm tired; I got up at two thirty AM and I'm not in the mood."

"Whatever," Draco muttered. It was strange but it seemed that at that moment, the tension on the landing practically deflated into nothingness. Harry sidled across the landing so he was by Ron and Draco and his cronies and the little girl moved to stand on the other side. The only tension that remained was what was between Harry and Ron's shoulder blades; they would never be used to their enemy so close yet doing nothing about it.

For several minutes, silence reigned with the Slytherins lounging on the other side of the landing and the child staring openly at Ron. Soon Ron began to shift nervously under that unblinking, strangely cat-like stare. Harry didn't really mind the silence. It was better than listening to Draco mouth off about how Slytherins were better or some nonsense similar to that. Silence was the best thing he could possibly get from Draco Malfoy (it was like Christmas came earlier than expected).

Aside from that, Harry supposed he had grown used to silence.

Children, on the other hand, seemed incredibly adverse to the idea of silence, and as Ron and Harry leaned on the wall—their wands still in their hands just in case—the child with Draco turned to the evil git and chirped, "Dee-dee, I'm hungry." She must have seen Ron's scones, because the boy was still eating them. He had a bad habit of eating when he was nervous and food was available.

Draco looked at the child in complete exasperation, "But you just ate!" he pointed out.

"I know, but that was forever ago and I'm hungry again." The child—was her name Shiva?—stated calmly.

"That was fifteen minutes ago, and you ate _both_ our breakfasts!" Draco appeared rather perplexed. His Slytherin cronies were grinning, guffawing, and snickering.

"Well I am really hungry again," she said. She pointed at Ron, "He's eating something, so it must still be breakfast." Ron's ears turned as red as his hair and he fidgeted nervously with his wand. "Please, can I have more?"

"You had three bagels, two bowls of cereal and two bananas; how much more could you possibly eat?" Draco asked.

"I liked the bagels," Shiva said, "I would have another with cheese."

"_Great_," Draco grumbled, "just _great_." He turned to Crabbe and Goyle and snapped, "Go grab a muffin off the table in the Great Hall."

Shiva shook her head forcefully, "No, a _bagel_, Dee-dee. I want a _bagel_ and _cheese_."

"So did you want a muffin or a bagel?" Crabbe asked.

"Whatever! A bagel."

"And cheese," Shiva added.

Draco's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "And _cheese_," he hissed, and Crabbe and Goyle took off down the stairs. Harry wasn't sure why it took two people to go fetch a bagel, but then again Crabbe and Goyle might equal one person in their intelligence. When they had gone, he turned to look at the child…

She beamed at Draco. "Dee-dee is _so_ much nicer than daddy! Daddy always yells when I ask for more food and tells me I'm a fat squib. Am I fat, Dee-dee?"

A rather vexed look crossed Draco's face. "You're _not_ fat." Harry and Ron shared a glance; Draco hadn't denied the 'squib' part, but then again that was probably an oversight on the Slytherin's part… though it didn't seem likely for Draco to make any oversights. He did a lot of things purposefully, knowing what the likely outcomes were before they happened. He just seemed that kind of character.

So the question was, who was this child and was she a squib? Did Draco have a kid at some point? She looked so much like him. He and the blond girl, Chaviah, could be the child's parents, Harry realized with a start.

"Drake, I'll handle this," Chaviah said, reaching out to the child. The girl beamed up at the blond, and Harry had another thought. The child called Draco 'Dee-dee' not 'daddy', as if referring to two separate people. "Come on, Shiva." The child's fingers slipped into the girl's hand.

"Don't go far with her," Draco ordered Chaviah seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, I _know_." Chaviah said. Very soon the two had disappeared down the stairs and out of sight. Ron looked like he was going to burst with questions, but Harry managed to catch his eye and shake his head a little. He didn't feel like listening to a verbal spar—or participating in one—and that was probably the least they could expect from a one-on-one with Draco Malfoy.

Silence filled the area of the landing and with it came the tension that was brought upon Draco's arrival. Blaise was the one who broke the silence after several minutes. Draco was simply leaning casually against the wall, favoring his left leg, looking quite comfortable with the silence.

Blaise said, "Looking forward to Quidditch this year, Potter?" His position nearly echoed Draco's in ease. His arms were crossed over his broad chest. Harry was startled to be addressed after so long being ignored. It was as though the Slytherins had forgotten the presence of the two Gryffindors all together.

"Erm… yeah…" Harry said. Of course he was looking forward to it! He never wanted to miss a chance at creaming Malfoy at a game he'd probably practiced from the first moment he could hold a broom. It felt great to be a natural at something.

"Oh, by the way Blaise…" Draco began and the black-skinned boy turned to him, "I'll be quitting the team this year." He said it as if it were the weather he was commenting on, and that in itself was an amazing feat. Harry would've never been able to approach that kind of subject like that without nearly strangling himself on his intestines first. It was Quidditch after all, the greatest sport to exist in any world (as far as Harry was concerned).

Ron blurted, "Quitting? As in not ever playing? But why?"

"Don't sound disappointed at all," Harry found himself drawling at his friend (who literally and for some unknown reason seemed concerned).

Blaise looked both hurt and offended at Draco's admission. "Yeah, Drake, who the hell put it in your head that you can _possibly_ quit the team? We _need_ you if we're going to survive! You're our damn seeker, and no one has eyes like you who is old enough to play!"

"I'm not going to have time for all the practices and games, keeping 'O's in my classes, and taking care of Shiva." Draco shrugged and his iceberg eyes wandered to the stairwell. "Don't worry about it; I already know who I am going to blackmail into playing in my place."

"You have to blackmail someone to play on your team?" Harry asked curiously. Ron muttered something like, 'No wonder their team _sucks_,' and Harry couldn't agree more.

Draco raised one eyebrow at Harry, "Not that it concerns _you_, Potter, but no we do not usually have to. The difference this time is that the person I have in mind is going to take a lot of _convincing_ before they'll play. However, in the end…they _will_ give in, and they _will_ take the position for me."

Ron opened his mouth to speak again, but by that time Chaviah had returned with Shiva. "Blaisey has a sour lemon face," Shiva giggled, and the tension died again. The child rushed to Draco and tugged on his bag. "Guess what, Dee-dee!"

Draco's features seemed somehow a little softer as he looked at the girl. It wasn't by much… Not many people would probably notice it, since it was only in his eyes, but Harry had seen too many sneers and scowls and smirks on Draco's face to not notice that soft look reserved only for a young girl.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Chavi has a secret!"

Chaviah rolled her eyes, "Well, Drake, we know your sister won't be a very good Slytherin at least."

Draco smirked casually, looking down at the girl who was apparently his sister. Harry had never imagined Draco as anything except an only child. "What_ever_ do you _mean_, Chavi?" Draco asked in a voice laced with false innocence. "She'll make a _great_ Slytherin, right, Princess?"

The child beamed, "Yup! I'm going to be a Slytherin just like you, Dee-dee!"

"She even knows what the definition of 'secret' is," his expression radiated trouble as he glanced and grinned at the blond girl. "Shiva, define 'secret'."

Shiva chirped, "Secret. A piece of information not meant to be unknown."

Blaise laughed loudly, "Now, Chaviah, how can you say such cruel, nasty things anyway? Of course she's going to be a Slytherin!"

Harry felt he was seeing a stranger side of the Slytherins he thought he'd known. It was almost like watching regular students interact…although Harry wasn't sure when he started categorizing Slytherins as something other than regular students (maybe it was when he realized most of them were children of Death Eaters, and in line to be ones themselves—for example, Draco…). It was definitely strange seeing them now, especially with the child. They seemed to really relax with the child present, and it was even as though Harry and Ron weren't there at all.

Harry wondered if all Slytherins had a secret, unknown side to them. Did Kagome? Would her unknown side turn out to be evil? He found he was agreeing internally with Draco's sister's definition of 'secret'. He wanted to know more about the Slytherins and their secrets.

A bell rang somewhere in the castle, pounding out the ninth hour of the morning. Breakfast was over and students would now need to start heading toward their class or else risk being late. It was a good thing Harry and Ron had come a good half an hour early… Now they only had another half hour to go before their class would actually start. However, the trap door did creak open, finally. Why did Harry want to go early?

The Slytherins didn't budge, and neither did Harry or Ron; they didn't really care to be caught on a ladder with their back turned…

After a few moments of glaring silence, Shiva staring back and forth between Harry and Draco as if knowing instinctively they were both ones to watch, Chaviah threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Good _Gods_, you guys are such babies! If you won't go, I will!" She stalked to the ladder and placed one long fingered hand on it, turning to glare at each of the boys, "And don't you _dare_ look up my skirt, or I'll make sure you regret it for weeks."

Draco snorted, "With _your_ outfit, it's almost like you're _begging_ us to look up it, or even down your shirt. Do you _ever_ button up?"

"And those _shoes_," Blaise said, "how _can_ you walk in those?"

"Lay off the shoes," she flipped her curls over her shoulder in a show of her irritation, "Daddy bought me these shoes this summer."

"Does _he_ know?" both Slytherin boys inquired.

"Of course not! But he got them for me for my birthday, along with a really cute leather skirt and a matching tank-top. Oh, and some fantastic new lingerie. Daddy does have _great_ taste in clothes."

Harry looked at her shoes. They were at least three inches in the heel and had black laces wrapping up her long legs just below her knee where they were tied in a bow. They were open-heeled, open-toed shoes. Just looking at them made Harry's feet hurt. She wore black lace leggings and her school uniform skirt had slits up both sides to her upper thighs. Her blazer was unbuttoned, revealing the fact that her blouse was at least two sizes too small, if not more.

A section of her stomach was revealed, belly-button included in that section, and they could all see a glittering belly button ring with dice heads there. Her stomach was very firm and fit, and her chest was half-revealed since the top buttons on the blouse weren't done up. Harry was red-faced just noticing the fact that she could walk around with that much chest showing (she wore a lacy black bra, quite _clearly_) and not be embarrassed about it.

Harry turned his head away as hastily as possible, though it didn't seem fast enough. Ron had also accidentally noticed Chaviah's garments—or lack-thereof—because he was red-eared and very flustered. Draco had also noticed both Gryffindor's discomfort and nudged Blaise. Blaise smirked.

Draco snickered, "Do you two _like_ what you see?"

"No," Harry found himself snapping a little too quickly. Damn, the blond girl was very good looking. How in the name of the heavens did Harry never notice her before? He'd had lots of classes with Slytherins before and never once could he recall _her_. Maybe she was older?

Chaviah shifted from one foot to the other, placed a devilish hand on the topmost done button, and smirked. "Are you…sure?" she winked suggestively and he saw that hand _toying_ with the button. Both Harry and Ron successfully invented two new shades of red and turned away near completely, while the Slytherins bellowed with laughter and Shiva began questioning her brother about what was wrong with the two boys. 'Are they choking?' was one thing she'd asked.

"So… so like a Gryffindor!" Chaviah laughed. A moment later and the laughter had receded into the classroom above. Harry rather thought he preferred it when the Slytherins hexed him. He could deal with _that_, but he had no clue how to deal with _this_. And from the red look on Ron's face, Ron didn't know either.

"Mate, I – uh – think I – um – forgot my homework in the tower. Yeah, yeah that's it. Erm, probably should go – er – fetch it…" Ron said, attempting to ditch Harry.

Harry caught his friend's arm. "You're not going anywhere. They're probably just here for a few minutes to talk to Trelawney for some mystically unknown reason, so we should be fine," he managed not to stutter. "But if you ditch, I'm going to ditch class, and if I don't show, Hermione'll find out and we'll both be in up to our rears in lectures…" he needed not say more.

Ron was sheet white. He'd forgotten Harry couldn't really do too much without the world knowing. Ron could easily ditch and no one would care, but heavens forbid if Harry do it! Harry would've liked not to be famous, but stupid Voldemort had gotten in the way of _that_ idea.

"Er – maybe I _do_ have it…" he laughed nervously. "You first?" he offered to let Harry go up first, but (after a brief scuffle in which Harry won) decided in the end he ought to be the first up the ladder.

The classroom had not changed at all since they'd last stepped foot in it. Trelawney still liked to use incense and perfumes until the smells seemed to choke those smelling them. The room was still as dimly lit as before, because dimly lit rooms really helped when attempting to peer into the shadowy depths of a tea cup and read the tea leaves on the bottom.

Trelawney was the first thing they managed to catch sight of. She was draped in her usual body drowning shawl and her eyes were as buggy as ever behind those dangerously large glasses. She glared at them for a long moment before saying in a misty voice, "I had foreseen your return, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah right," Ron grumbled, though Trelawney didn't hear.

"Please, Mr. Potter, be seated by Miss Melody. Mr. Weasley, please take a seat next to Mr. Malfoy." She fluttered away from them and Ron and Harry shared a brief look of horror. Was Draco in their class? From across the room, Trelawney called, "Be seated, boys, no time to waste. Others will be arriving, and I simply must direct them to their seats. I cannot, however, do that with you in the way."

Ron and Harry peered around the room and found Draco and his crew at the table the two boys usually sat at—the one table by the windows. They gulped and made their way to the table. "Should've skipped," Ron muttered. "Or maybe we could storm off like Hermione. She probably wouldn't mind, since she hates the class so much!"

Harry gulped, "But when your mum finds out?"

Ron shuddered, "You're right. I'd take on ten Malfoys before I'd take on an angry mum." They found themselves at the table, hands on their wands. There were only two seats left at the table. The little girl was sitting on Blaise's lap coloring with—surprise of all surprises—muggle crayons. Blaise was next to Chaviah and Draco at the round table. Harry and Ron sat down heavily without further preamble.

Draco looked up at Harry and Ron through his heavy lashes, "I do believe this will be an _interesting_ year, eh, Chavi?" he asked.

The girl fiddled with her screwed up tie (did she wear it like that purposefully?) and licked her pure red lips. "Oh, it really _is_ warm in here."

"I'll open a window!" Harry said, moving hastily toward the window and slamming it open. "In fact, I'll open all of them." He opened the other three as well, letting in the cool air from outside. He sat back down, "Better?"

Chaviah leaned forward, her elbows on the table and her upper arms pressing her bosom together. She winked at Harry and pursed her lips, pressing a finger to her bottom lip. "Oh definitely," she said in a low voice. "_Most_ definitely."

Harry groaned, _This is going to be a very long year,_ he thought. He didn't know why the Slytherins were in his class, but it really sucked that they were.

* * *

I really appreciate the feedback guys. Keep it up!

The suggestions given to me as to why the chapter felt wrong helped a lot to identify what it was. Sevvy, I think you were probably right about everything from Hermione to Draco... Thanks a bunch!


	20. Hermione's Bad Day

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter 20: Hermione's Bad Day

If asked by anyone on the face of the planet what the worst day of her life was, Hermione Granger would say that the first day of her sixth school year. The summer had been absolutely spectacular for her. She spent an inordinate amount of time (three whole days!) with Grandmother Granger—and her parents were _not_ present which was even better—and Grandpa Granger had been in better health than usual—his health was in constant flux, so one never was sure if he would keel over one day without warning. 

After visiting her grandparents and staying at their home in Muggle London, she was picked up by her parents and took a plane to France where she got to tour Beauxbatons Academy and meet her parents' new neighbors in Paris where they had decided to move their dental practice (Hermione's dad wanted a little bit of change, thus the new scenery). She made a few friends in one of the many bookstores in Paris's equivalent of Diagon Alley. Éclair Aleixandre and Genevieve LeBlanc were two of the most intelligent young women Hermione could swear she'd ever met and were a perfect match for the type of friends she'd always wanted. 

Before she'd met those two, she had been border lining the decision to transfer to Beauxbatons, weighing the pros and cons. Better schooling, a new venue, no Slytherins, and the school was just magnificent! Sure, Hogwarts was pretty impressive but when Hermione walked through the halls of Beauxbatons, she was nearly floored. And to hear that most of the population at Beauxbatons were female (as the majority of males transferred to the Magic Academy in Japan), oh, Hermione's heart nearly stopped beating.

Just imagining all those self-empowered women, all of them stepping forward and making good things happen in the world, striving for leverage against the dominant male powers… and it didn't hurt that she'd known French from a young age either. Éclair and Genevieve were so fun and they had incredible ideas for the future. Both were purebloods, but neither cared that she was a muggle-born. They thought she was even more fascinating because she was coming into the wizarding world with a whole new perspective on things.

For instance, computers weren't something wizards used, but they still fascinated the two French girls immensely. The two weeks in France had gone by so quickly as the three immersed themselves in books and research on a very random whim to create something that could be just like the chat rooms online.

She'd learned so much about Vivi (that was her nickname for Genevieve, only because Vivi _insisted_ she be called that—Hermione Granger wasn't lazy though) and Éclair in such a short time. She'd gone to their homes and marveled at their mansions that existed in the heart of Paris and brought them to hers even though her mother fretted over the 'mess'. Well, they hadn't finished unpacking things at that time so it couldn't be helped and the girls knew she just moved there! They didn't have a problem with it!

Vivi was daughter of the French minister of magic, and Éclair was a descendant of a line of French Royalty, though her ancestor was only a sibling of the Royals. However, if it were to come down to much bloodshed and mayhem, Éclair admitted she might have to take up hiding in the mountains because she didn't want to be in line for the throne. "It would be too restricting," Éclair had said. "I can't exactly be an inventor if I'm being primed for stupid things like marriage!"

Hermione had never before connected to anyone that shared so many of the same ideals as her. Vivi was all for S.P.E.W. and everything the movement stood for—or at least, everything the movement would stand for if it ever started going anywhere. So far, Hermione couldn't claim to have spread the idea very far as most of the wizarding world either didn't care about house elves or else firmly believed house elves were truly created to be the blood slaves of mankind.

Heck, Hermione hadn't ever connected to Harry or Ron like Vivi and Éclair either.

But of course two weeks in Paris had slipped away quickly and Hermione had been faced with her most difficult decision of the summer: whether or not she would transfer schools. She had to lay all her cards out on the table to decide what her course of action would be.

The good points at Hogwarts were that she knew her way around, she knew and had a working relationship with the majority of the staff (that being everyone except Professors Snape and Trelawney), she had Harry and Ron, she was a Prefect, and her scores were so perfect she just knew she would be the next Head Girl. She could feel it in her bones…and if she wasn't… she just hoped her life didn't crumble into pieces if something got in the way of her and Head Girl. Or, she prayed for the one who _was_ made Head Girl in her place, because Hermione Granger knew she had a temper problem and if Head Girl was taken away from her she simply could not be blamed for any personal damage to said other woman.

The good points for Beauxbatons were that she simply adored the magnificent French architecture—the flying buttresses, cathedral like ceilings in every room… the school itself taught more theories behind how magic worked and had entire classes devoted on the theory behind different spell workings… and she could have had Vivi and Éclair to talk to every day about whatever she fancied! She couldn't talk theories of _Expelliarmus_, the disarming charm, with Harry and Ron. The boys simply couldn't keep up!

That was not to say Hermione didn't love the two boys dearly (not that she was _in love_ with Ronald Weasley, of course, though she wasn't sure why she was assuring herself she wasn't since it was true and therefore needed no internal explanations) but Hermione loved talking about the theories behind magical workings and figuring things out and finding a logical working to something that seemed so completely illogical as the idea of magic.

But if she were to compare only the good points, Hogwarts basically won hands down. Of course, Hogwarts had too many bad points for Hermione to list while as of the time Hermione made her decision, the only bad point she could name for Beauxbatons was Fleur Delacour, and that girl would've graduated already. So it was a tough choice.

However, Ron's hysterical letter telling her he couldn't survive without her had made up her mind. She would simply have to return to England and Hogwarts and Ron. (Actually, her logical mind pointed out his hysterical letter actually said he couldn't believe she would go behind his and Harry's back and enroll in a new school when she knew they needed her for help on their Potions assignments, but that he hoped she would write to him and Harry so they didn't have to steal Ginny's letters to know what was going on in France. And he also asked if she met any pretty girls yet.)  
Hermione easily kept in touch with her new French friends through owl post, and was still researching how she might create something that could work like an online chat room so she could talk personally with her friends without actually being in France or Floo-fire talking. She always felt so disoriented doing that fire thing. But the girls were pureblooded witches and Hermione hadn't had a chance to teach them anything about phones so for now, owl post was as best she could do.

And now, she was back at Hogwarts, and she could find six new reasons to loathe her decision. Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, three other Slytherin girls Hermione couldn't claim to know the names of, and the new transfer. Hermione wanted to stab herself with a quill the moment they strode so purposefully into her Ancient Runes class. Now, of course, it was still well before any other students should show up to class. The bell had barely just rung and everyone would just be leaving the Great Hall.

Parkinson barely spared Hermione a glance and turned her snooty nose upward as she passed by Hermione's seat and the girls fettered around a table in the back. Hermione had no idea why the Slytherins were present in _her_ classroom, but her pride didn't let her demand an answer. She would hate to be caught without one. How embarrassing!

"So you see, Kagome," Pansy sniffed, "that is why you should have said nothing."

The devilish new transfer asked, "Um, is it okay to talk about it now? I mean…" she glanced at Hermione and Hermione felt her face heat up.

Pansy hummed as if she couldn't care less about whatever it was the transfer was referring to. "Who would Granger tell?" Pansy asked and then said, "She hasn't got any friends anyway."

Hermione felt her blood run cold despite that her face was red. She did too have friends. She was friendly with all the Gryffindors, and Harry and Ron were her best friends. There was also Vivi and Éclair, who were already as close as she'd hoped a bosom buddy would be, even if the term 'bosom buddy' was very old fashioned.

While Kagome didn't laugh out loud at the joke at Hermione's expense, the other Slytherins did and Hermione felt her temper rising fast. The entrance of several Gryffindors and Slytherins stopped Hermione from getting out of her seat. She would hate to let Pansy see she'd gotten to her with her stupid words, or let that new girl know what to say to barb her anger.

Not long afterward, the professor strode into the classroom purposefully and Hermione finally noticed a piece of parchment on her desk that hadn't been there before. She wondered who it was from as she opened it. "Meet me after class or everyone will know about your little crush on Draco Malfoy. Third floor room behind the tapestry of Merlin and Drake."

Hermione growled and crumpled up the letter, turning to glare at Pansy Parkinson. It just _had_ to be Pansy, she knew it had to be. Either that or it was the new transfer… but even Hermione couldn't believe the transfer was already going out of her way to make Hermione's life miserable.

But it was Pansy who met Hermione's eyes and smirked as if she were superior to Hermione in every way, as if she knew some secret that could totally erase every ounce of dignity that Hermione had in one fell swoop. And Pansy wouldn't regret doing it either, would she? No, because Slytherins never felt bad about anything! Slytherins did whatever they pleased with no care whatsoever to what others might feel over the consequences. They had no feelings of remorse, no capability of feeling bad at all.

Professor Trimstra cleared his throat. "Thank you all for returning to Ancient Runes this year and I do apologize if it feels a little more crowded than usual. As a last minute change, Professor Dumbledore has decided to combine a few more classes to promote inter-house unity. It will not affect all of your classes, of course, but Ancient Runes was one of those selected to be combined." He stepped around his desk and glanced over the large class speculatively.

The transfer student raised her hand. Oh for heavens sake, Hermione thought, what questions could the girl possibly have? Even Hermione had no questions for Professor Trimstra yet.

"Yes, Miss…" the professor started, and then seemed to realize he didn't know the transfer's name.

"Higurashi," the transfer provided pleasantly, though Hermione wasn't fooled by her light tone. Hermione knew there was an evil witch beneath all that prettiness. "Kagome Higurashi, sir." The transfer stood up from her seat and Hermione wondered why she did that every time she talked. Was it a custom in her country? Hermione would have to research the behavior. "I was just wondering what combining a few classes will accomplish in a goal to inter-house unity. If it is as I have been told and the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses are as opposite as day and night, then combining a few classes will not make much of a difference." She sat back down at her seat beside Pansy.

"Ah, an excellent question, Miss Higurashi," Professor Trimstra nodded his head and leaned coolly against his desk. Hermione had always liked Professor Trimstra. He was a young man in comparison to most of the teachers, only around thirty five years old. He was only a substitute teacher during fifth year, brought into whichever class they needed him for much like Professor Grubbly-Plank had been their substitute for Care of Magical Creatures a few times. His brown eyes were hidden behind coke-bottle glasses thicker than Harry's and his hairline was receding early, but he had a good nature to him.

It excited Hermione to think that Trimstra was hired on full-time as their new Ancient Runes teacher. She would say she didn't have a crush on Trimstra, except that her notebook was already littered in "I heart Professor Leo Trimstra" and "Hermione Jane Trimstra" and it was only the first day…the first two minutes of class to be precise.

"Let me think a moment," Professor Trimstra said, tapping his chin. "Well, Professor Dumbledore hopes that by combining more Slytherin and Gryffindor classes, forcing students to interact more, the lingering rivalry might cool off a little. Now, don't get me wrong—I think inter-house unity was long coming, but I also don't really understand what Professor Dumbledore is thinking. Truly, I don't think anyone understands his mind. I believe in order to create a change there will first need to be some sort of cataclysmic event to cause the turning point."

Hermione raised her hand and Professor Trimstra smiled at her, nodding that she was free to talk. "But Professor Dumbledore believes this is the right course of action? To combine our classes?"

"Yes, Miss Granger, he does," Professor Trimstra nodded. "And I'm glad you asked, because Professor Dumbledore has also asked me to create a seating chart and I would like you all to keep in mind that Professor Dumbledore believes this is the right course of action."

In moments, a rearranging had occurred and Hermione found herself very tight-lipped, sitting between Kyle Marcus on her left and Pansy Parkinson on her right. She couldn't believe her dumb luck. She was between two Slytherins! She looked at the note still crumpled in her hand and angrily scribbled a response to it and shoved it at Pansy when Trimstra's back was turned toward the board.

_Why should I meet you? So you can hex the hair off me?_ Hermione had asked.

Seconds later, the letter was shoved back at Hermione.

_"Because I will spread rumors about you crushing on Draco if you don't." _

_ "No one would believe you."_ Hermione replied. _"Everyone knows I'd sooner kill myself than fall for someone so pathetic and hypocritical." _

_ "All it takes is just one tiny seed of doubt. I heard you watched Draco sleep nearly the entire train ride on the Hogwarts Express. What were you thinking about?" _

Hermione hadn't watched him sleep! She had glared at him the entire way, angry that as a prefect, he was getting away with not listening to anything. He just sat there, snoozing with his head on Pansy's chest as Pansy listened aptly to the things being spewed out by Head Boy.

And then Pansy's words registered in Hermione's mind. _"You heard? You were there, so you should know I wasn't watching him at all." _

_ "Of course I was there! Don't change the subject. You're in love with Draco!" _

_ "Your body language suggests you weren't really in the Prefect cabin," _Hermione wrote, feeling rather smug. Pansy could deny it all she wanted, but for some reason, it was like Pansy hadn't actually been there despite how Hermione could vouch to have seen the girl.

_"Fine, but if you want to know, you'll show up in the room after class. Come alone and don't be late or else!"_

And thus continued Hermione's worst day ever. After class, Pansy and the Slytherin girls packed up and left the room. Hermione debated following Pansy. She was curious, but she doubted whether Pansy would tell why she didn't recall what happened in the Prefect cabin.

Of course, if she didn't go Pansy would spread rumors about Hermione that simply were not true. Hermione had rumors spread about her before, so it wouldn't be a new thing.

"Are you alright?"

Hermione turned to the owner of the voice, startled that anyone was still left in the room. Even Professor Trimstra was gone. "Huh?" she asked, and saw the green tie and slicked back black hair. She nearly recoiled in revulsion, but forced herself to put on a smile—albeit a strained one. His face was okay to look at, if she didn't take notice of his hair slathered in what had to be a mixture of Crisco and corn oil.

"I asked if you were alright? You were staring at the blackboard like you wanted to bust it up." He sounded fairly polite for a Slytherin. Polite in a sincere way, not like the transfer, who Hermione knew was hiding a dangerous evil inside her.

"I am _fine_," Hermione said and gathered her things in her bag, preparing to storm away from this Slytherin who for no reason at all seemed concerned for the mudblood.

"Well, that's good," he smiled. "I'm Kyle Marcus…"

"I know who you are," she told him. "You sat by me all class!"

"Um, I'm sorry if I did something to you in a past life," he said as she walked toward the door. She turned to look at him in confusion and saw a hurt expression on his features. "I mean, not all of us are like Malfoy, you know. My mum was a muggle-born like you; real talented witch she was…"

Hermione felt as if her world had been abruptly shaken. A Slytherin with a mudblood mother? But all Slytherins were pureblooded, muggle-hating creeps! She knew she was looking at Kyle in surprise, but she couldn't help it. "What do you mean 'was'?" she asked before shaking herself mentally, "Never mind. I have to get going." She turned and slipped out the door.

She neared the third floor, wondering what she was doing. She didn't really care about rumors! But her feet took her to stand in front of a massive tapestry of a giant dragon encased in an iceberg with Merlin in front of it holding a knotted staff. It was one of the few things in the castle that didn't seem to have a life of its own. She peered at the base of the wall below the tapestry but there was no sign of a door.

She pulled the tapestry away from the wall and peered behind it. Sure enough, there was a small, square door three feet off the ground. She sidled along the wall, wondering why she would willingly go alone to such a meeting. It had to be a trap! She should've gotten Harry and Ron and they could've come under the invisibility cloak. But her body wouldn't turn around and go back now. Her pride had taken over—she had to do this alone… She couldn't explain to herself the logic behind the decision.

The door had no knob. There was nothing except a wood burned image of a rose inside a circle. She brushed a hand along the image, only barely able to make it out from the light shining up from by her feet. It was rather uncomfortable to have the stupid tapestry weighing her against the wall, and the door wasn't one that appeared could be opened without a spell… She took her hand away from the door and turned to leave, but then the door burned away, like a piece of parchment though the fire felt like water on her skin, leaving a hole in the wall and a brightly lit room behind the door.

She poked her head in the room nervously. No one was present, but the room had puffy chairs and couches and a big hearth. The chairs and couches were all green and lining the walls instead of portraits were bookshelves straight up to the ceiling. There were a few coffee tables and arm tables near the furniture.

She clamored into the room to investigate, even though she knew better than to do it. Why was she doing this alone? She set her bag by the door and took her wand out—just in case. But no one was present, were they? No, they weren't… She giddily and nervously went to examine the bookshelves, soon finding herself rather astounded to see titles like "Black Magic and Its Theories" by Urma Grievewasle and "101 Spells Best Against Enemies" by Henry Trainwillow.

Her fingers found the spine of the book, "The Ice Prince" by D.I. Malfoy. She pulled it off the shelf, staring wonderingly at the author's name. Was it an ancestor of Draco? She opened the book to the first page and ten minutes later realized she was sitting on the floor with her arms around her knees and had her nose glued to a book that just might be working dark magic on her without her even knowing it.

But her curiosity had been too much for her. The title wasn't like the others surrounding it, and the book itself appeared to have seen far less use than the others. That was hardly considering the fact that it was written by a _Malfoy_ of all the families that it could've been written by.

And it was a marvelous working of words, too. Hermione had never read anything like it. The words almost danced across the page as if she saw the characters playing out the story in a movie. The story told of a time before England had banished the demons, except in the book, they didn't like the word 'demon'. Hermione got the feeling the word 'demon' was as hateful a word to these creatures as 'mudblood' was to Ron. Instead, they called themselves Fairie-Dragons and they ruled the magical world in England.

They were dragons in human form, though they could take on their dragon form any time they chose. She had just barely gotten to the part where the story talked about humans and their never ending quest to kill dragons and how knights were a nuisance to the Fairie-Dragons when the book was snatched from her hands and put back in its place on the shelf.

"Hey! I was reading that!" she yelped, looking up at the perpetrator. It was Pansy, and the girl was frowning. She also had an adorable little blond haired girl on her hip, though Hermione had no clue where the child had come from. The only person she could think of who had those same iceberg colored eyes and blond hair was Draco Malfoy, so she asked, "What happened to Malfoy?!" she nearly laughed, but at the cold look on Pansy's face decided against it.

Pansy had come alone except for the child, Hermione noticed as she stood up.

"I don't care if you were reading it, and Shiva isn't Draco!" Pansy snapped. She shifted closer to Hermione. "Take her, Granger." Pansy insisted.

The child started crying as Hermione, very stunned, simply did what she was told and eased the child off Pansy's hip and onto her own. Shiva reached out to Pansy as she cried, "Pan-pan, no! Don't leave Shiva!"

"You're to stay in here with her until I get back," Pansy said seriously. "Draco and Blaise are busy talking to the Quidditch team, and Chavi is holed up in the library with Madam Pince so there is no one left who can be trusted to take care of Shiva except me but I can't because I have to go see Madam Pomfrey. That's why I called you here; you're a Gryffindor, so you'll guilt yourself to death if anything happens to her."

Hermione glanced at the crying little girl and then at Pansy. "What's wrong with you?" Hermione found herself asking. She didn't doubt what Pansy said about her guilting herself if the girl got hurt, but she wondered why not any other Gryffindor if she just needed someone who would guilt themselves…

"If you _must_ know, I fell getting off the train yesterday and I think I might've broken a finger or two." She pulled back her sleeve of the arm she'd used to steady the girl on her hip. Indeed the fingers were swollen and looked very painful. "I thought it was just a little pain that would go away by morning," she said, "but it didn't."

"Why me?" Hermione asked as Pansy turned to leave. At first, she thought she wouldn't get an answer.

Then Pansy said, "Because you're against everything the Dark stands for, and you've a good head on your shoulders, mudblood or not." Hermione thought that was probably the best compliment she'd ever receive from a Slytherin and was very shocked to receive it from Pansy of all people. It was almost as amazing as if it'd come out of Draco Malfoy's mouth himself. "Just don't leave here until I get back. I don't think I'll be too long."

"Yeah, well, I better not miss lunch," Hermione said, trying to remove herself from her state of shock. Pansy left and Hermione was alone with the little girl who was crying as if she was all alone in the world. Hermione felt bad for the little girl so she hugged her and moved to one of the poufy green couches and sat down on it, the girl in her lap.

She took a good look at the girl. She really did look a lot like Draco Malfoy, and she wore an obviously expensive silk ball gown, dark green with embroidered silver snakes on it. The dress was wrinkled, but that was to be expected for a little child. Hermione wondered if this was a trap, but then dismissed the idea almost immediately.

She smiled at the girl, "Its okay, you don't have to cry."

"But Pan-pan left me a… a_lone_ and I'm _scared_ when I have to be alone!" she cried.

"She didn't leave you alone," Hermione reasoned, "I'm here too."

"I don't know you! Mummy said never talk to strangers!" She buried her face in Hermione's shoulder, wrapping her little arms around Hermione's neck as if hanging on for dear life.

The child really was afraid, Hermione realized. She wrapped her arms around the little girl and hugged her. "Shh," she said, hoping to calm the wailing child down, "Sweet rain of sorrow, falling on no one, his love is left behind by life's relentless passing…" she said, thinking that maybe if she sang a bit, she might get the girl to calm when 'shushing' didn't work. It worked, even though Hermione knew she wasn't the greatest singer by far. She'd been told once that her voice was like the screeching of a dying rabbit mixed with the moans of a birthing mother elephant—not very good.

She sang the whole song through anyway and by the time she finished, the girl wasn't clinging to her hard enough to make her head pop off. She sat, rubbing her eyes, sniffling a little bit. Hermione took out a kerchief, glad she kept an arsenal of them, and wiped the girl's eyes.

"There, now, is that a bit better?" Hermione asked. The child smiled a watery little smile and nodded. "My name is Hermione. What's yours?" She knew it was Shiva, since Pansy already called her that but she figured the girl might want to introduce herself.

"My name is Shiva. You don't sing as good as Dee-dee, you know." Shiva said honestly. "Dee-dee sings lots better."

"Who is Dee-dee?" Hermione asked, hardly offended by the words of a little child when her own father begged her not to sing. Hermione was good at academics; singing was not a basis for intelligence, therefore knowing how to sing wasn't important to her. Besides that, music was a gift and could not be learned from a book; Hermione tended to avoid anything that couldn't be learned from a book.

"Dee-dee is my big brother. He goes to school here." She climbed down off Hermione's lap and stood on the ground, peering about the room as if wondering which corner to investigate for toys first.

"So how come you're here?" Hermione asked.

"Dee-dee said Mummy and daddy are in France and so he has to take care of me 'till they come back. Hey," the child turned to Hermione with a glint in her eyes and lowered her voice conspiratorially, "do you want to build a fort? I bet there're blankets in that chest over there," she pointed at an oddly shaped table beside one of the couches.

Hermione grinned at the child. The girl reminded her so much of herself at a young age. When Hermione was young, she didn't have dolls or tea parties. Her fifth birthday party was supposed to be a cute little tea party with four other girls, but Hermione convinced the girls to go on a "Backyard Hunting Expedition" with her. They hunted for monsters, sloshing through the wet and muddy back yard in their new party dresses, tormenting birds with stones and pretending sticks were swords (and Hermione's mother's new pots and pans became armor and shields and were put to good use that day). It was refreshing to watch it in this little girl.

Of course, if Hermione was thinking properly, she would realize that a child like her in Hogwarts wasn't a good thing. Her mind ignored that fact. Instead she and the child dove into the chest and came up with plenty of couch throws in various colors. Hermione didn't bother using her wand to move the couches. There was something satisfying about moving them herself even if they were heavy. She managed to maneuver the couches and chairs into place and she and Shiva used the couch and chair throws to build their fort.

They had just finished and Shiva had just crawled inside when someone made their presence known. "You're really good with children, Miss Granger," Hermione turned quickly and instantly her wand was out of her sleeve where she kept it and in her hand, aimed at the voice. Kyle Marcus held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized. He smiled, and Hermione narrowed her eyes in suspicion. How long had he been standing there?

She decided to ask. "How long have you been here?"

"Maybe twenty minutes. Draco sent me to check up on his sister and make sure she wasn't giving Pansy a hard time." Hermione was stunned. 'Dee-dee' was Draco? Impossible! One, Dee-dee was a far cry from Draco the way the child went on and on about her brother being the best, nicest, coolest person in the whole world. Two, the names "Dee-dee" and "Draco" were nothing alike, so it was impossible to mistake the names.

But Shiva really did look a lot like Draco…

Hermione didn't know what to say. Maybe Kyle understood that, because he smiled secretively at her and said, "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble, so I won't let Draco know you're baby sitting his sister if you don't…"

Hermione liked that idea. She smiled gratefully at Kyle. Maybe there was a Slytherin or two that was decent after all! "Thanks, I really appreciate it," Hermione said. "Who knows what he'd do if he knew a _mudblood_," she spat the word, "was contaminating his family…"

"You're not a mudblood," Kyle told her sternly. "If anyone is the mudblood, it's… oh, sorry," his cheeks reddened a little, "I shouldn't say anything."

"What were you going to say?" Hermione asked. She really was too curious for her own good sometimes and she knew it.

"Oh… well, it's just that… well, I suppose you haven't heard about it…" he hesitated before glancing at the fort where Shiva was. Hermione guessed he didn't want the little girl to know, so she moved closer—though not too close of course—and he whispered, "…about Draco?"

"I haven't heard anything…" Hermione admitted.

"Well, it's just hearsay, so far, but…" Hermione glared at him to continue and he did. "Draco's family adopted him from a muggle-born orphanage."

Hermione's eyes went wide at the word 'adopted'. "What's a muggle-born orphanage?"

"It's one of those orphanages where muggle-borns go when their parents can't cope with magical children." Kyle told her. "But like I said… it hasn't been proven. I mean, Draco and Lucius Malfoy have the same hair color, but I've met both Draco's parents and neither of them have the same eye color as Draco. Their eyes are both sky blue, and Draco's is more like gray ice. But rumor has it that Miss Melody and Draco had a kid, and are hiding the fact by pretending Draco's parents are the parents of Shiva. Not even Shiva is aware of the truth."

"Oh wow," Hermione's ears practically buzzed with the new information. She heard Shiva calling her to come play in the fort and said, "Just a second, honey," and looked back at Kyle, "Are you really not going to tell Malfoy?"

Kyle smiled a bit shyly, "Hey, I might look big and gruff and Slytheriny, but I've always had a crush on you." Hermione's face flushed red at the boy's admission. "I just wish I had been sorted into a different house. I don't make a very good Slytherin, and if I had… maybe I might have had a chance with you." His face was beet red by the time he turned and crawled out the small hole of a door.

Hermione gulped slightly and went to join Shiva in the fort. "Who were you talking to?" Shiva asked.

"A friend of your brother's, I think," Hermione said.

"Oh! So you were talking to Blaisey?" Shiva asked, beaming at Hermione.

"No, a different friend," Hermione said.

"But Dee-dee doesn't have any other boyfriends," Shiva said in confusion. "He hates Crabby and Boils, and doesn't talk to other boys."

"Really?" Hermione giggled at the child's obvious nicknames for Crabbe and Goyle. "Why doesn't he like Crabbe and Goyle?"

"I don't know. Dee-dee said the only reason Crabby and Boils are around is 'cause daddy pays them to be Dee-dee's bodyguards. But Dee-dee told me never trust Crabby and Boils 'cause their family is mercenaries and works for whoever pays highest." Shiva plucked at her shoes, looking very bored.

Hermione hoped talking would keep Shiva efficiently occupied because Hermione was out of ideas. She knew it was already well past lunch time, and Shiva's stomach was growling, but Pansy _did_ say not to leave the room. Hermione decided if Pansy didn't show up by the time lunch was over, Hermione would take Shiva down to the kitchens during Charms. She could afford to miss one class unlike Ron or Harry who needed every minute they could get.

"Crabbe and Goyle are mercenaries?" Hermione asked. "What does Malfoy…I mean, Draco need to be protected from?"

"I don't know," Shiva shrugged. "I think Dee-dee should be protected from daddy."

If there was one thing Hermione loved, it was the blunt honesty of children, even though that could be a dangerous thing. "Why should he be protected from your dad?"

"'Cause daddy is mean to Dee-dee. Dee-dee has to be perfect, you know. When I was little," it was amusing to imagine such a small child saying 'when I was little', "daddy told Dee-dee he was the worst, most ungrateful boy ever to be in our family and he locked Dee-dee up in his room for a long time. It felt like forever before I got to see Dee-dee again."

Hermione's eyes were so wide, she wondered if they'd pop out. "He locked Draco in his room?" That was awful, and coming from Shiva, it wasn't as if Hermione could say it was a lie… But what if this was all a trap and Shiva wasn't really a child… no, there was an air of innocence about her that couldn't be faked. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know why daddy does it, but it isn't as bad as when Dee-dee snuck out of the house. Dee-dee has big scars on his back 'cause daddy kept hitting him with a willow branch 'cause of that. That's what Dee-dee told me daddy would do to me if I went out of the house without permission."

Hermione couldn't help but gasp in surprise. "Draco Malfoy was _whipped_ with a _willow branch_?" she asked in horror.

"Hey, 'Mione," Shiva looked up at Hermione with wide iceberg eyes, "when is mummy coming back from France? I want my mummy, and I know Dee-dee wants her to come home too. She's already been gone since Dee-dee came home practically. Me and Dee-dee had to go stay with strangers all summer long, and scary people came for Dee-dee, and I was alone, and mummy _is_ coming back, right?"

Hermione thought of Narcissus Malfoy in St. Mungo's, barely clinging to life in a coma with nearly no hope of waking. Hermione had seen Narcissus herself and except for a large bandage on Narcissus's head, she looked like she was simply sleeping though her insides were said to be in knots. "I'm certain she is," Hermione said, wondering if this really was Draco's kid.

"I'm glad." Shiva said. "I miss mummy. I always sleep by mummy if Dee-dee's at school."

"Where do you sleep if he's home?" Hermione asked.

She felt dumb when she got her answer. "By Dee-dee. 'Mione, I'm hungry. When is Pan-pan coming back?"

Hermione sighed. The end-of-lunch bell had already rang a good half-hour ago, she just didn't want to admit it. She would have to take a chance. If Pansy hadn't come back by now, it was likely she wouldn't be back by the time Hermione could get Shiva down to the kitchens and get back. She crawled out of the fort.

"Come on then. We'll see what we can get into your…" she trailed off as she looked up and saw none other than Draco Malfoy standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face rather than his usual trademark scowl or smirk. "Malfoy," she squeaked a bit nervously as the boy tapped a dark brown wand with his forefinger.

"Granger," he said and he glared at her. "What are you doing in here?" His tone felt accusing. She stood up and Shiva scrambled out of the fort and launched herself at Draco. He winced visibly as she hugged his left leg and then bent down, peeling her away from his leg and lifting her up to hold her on his hip.

"Pan-pan had to go somewhere, so 'Mione helped me build a fort!" Shiva said, hugging Draco. "I'm so happy to see you, Dee-dee! I was all alone for a while, but then 'Mione sang to me and everything! 'Mione's really nice. You should marry her."

Hermione choked on air and Draco looked like he'd just taken a bite of a sour lemon. "Marry – Granger – ?" Draco could hardly finish, but the look on his face said everything. "Good god, no way!"

"But she's really nice," Shiva pouted, "even if she can't sing good, she's nice to me and she's a girl, so I don't see where the problem is. You can marry her!"

Hermione tried to force the blush away, glad that none of his Slytherin cronies were present—especially Pansy who was already threatening to spread rumors of Hermione's false crush on Draco. "Hon, the problem," Hermione explained to Shiva, "is that Malf—er, your brother and I don't get along well."

"Oh. Well, why not?" Shiva asked. "Is it bedroom problems? 'Cause that's why daddy said his marriage isn't working." Hermione never knew how many colors of red there were in the spectrum until now. "I don't know what kind of bedroom problems you can have though. Maybe daddy just needs a new mattress, 'cause mummy doesn't snore or anything."

Hermione was surprised to find Draco's cheeks were tinged pink as well. "Uh, Shiva," he said, "the thing is… the thing is… well, you see, the problem is…" He seemed unable to say 'she's a mudblood' for some reason, though Hermione knew that was what he wanted to say.

She helped him out, "Shiva, the problem between us is that Draco doesn't like headstrong, intelligent women who are smarter than him." Draco glared at her but Hermione hardly feared him now that he was cowed by a little girl's unknowingly acute questions.

"Oh, so you're smart, but that doesn't make sense 'cause Dee-dee said he only likes girls who are smart as him."

"But I'm _smarter_," Hermione replied. "Draco and I, we just aren't at the same level." She held out her hands, one higher than the other. "I'm up here, and Draco's down here. He simply cannot compete with me." Hermione smirked at Draco as Shiva looked like she understood. "Anyway, I best be off; I'd hate to fall to Draco's level of intelligence by missing class…" She marched to the door, picking up her bag, and scrambled out from behind the tapestry.

The school year was really looking up. In her head, she whistled a little tune, _Draco Malfoy is a muggle-born, Draco Malfoy is a muggle-born._ She had to force the thoughts out of her head that Draco Malfoy was abused by his father. She hurried to Charms. Flitwick would undoubtedly not care much that she'd been late. She was his best student.

She entered class and her fellow Gryffindors looked at her in surprise. She was a bit red-faced from running and her hair was mussed more than usual, but her lateness was more surprising than her appearance.

"Miss Granger, I really am disappointed that a prefect like you would be late to class," Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione said, sad to have disappointed him but knowing it wasn't her fault and also knowing it wasn't like she could say anything about it.

"Well, it is the first day of classes, so I'll take it easy on you…" He smiled good-naturedly and said, "Take a seat, Miss Granger. We're reviewing the summer homework assignment."

She quickly took a seat next to Harry who had managed to save her one and opened her bag. Only when she was rummaging through the bag did she realize she didn't have her wand. She must have set it down in the fort or something and forgotten about it! That was bad…

Harry set a piece of paper on her desk when Flitwick's back was turned. Hermione opened it under the desk and read it.

_"Draco Malfoy is in our Divination class and he made a bet with his friends that he could get anyone in the whole school to date him. Watch out for him, Hermione, because they gave him until the first Hogsmeade visit to get you to go with him to Hogsmeade. If you want, I'll beat him up."_ Harry wrote. Ron scribbled under Harry's writing, _"I'll hex him for you!"_ and drew a picture (a very bad picture) of two people and one of them was flying through the air as though hexed.

Hermione giggled but then covered it up with a cough so Flitwick wouldn't think she was laughing at him. She took out her self-inking quill and scribbled back, _"As great as it sounds to have you guys beat him up, I think we should try a new approach. I have a plan. Are you two willing to help me?"_ On-the-spot planning came easily for Hermione, especially when her two best friends were virtually without a plan in life and relied on guts and primal instincts to get them through. She passed the note back to Harry, a grin stuck on her face as she remembered what Kyle had said. Rumor had it in Slytherin House that Malfoy was a muggle-born… which made Malfoy a hypocrite and a liar.

It didn't take much to realize that Kyle was telling the truth when he said he liked her. Kyle was like a Gryffindor, she'd noticed. When talking about things like feelings, he blushed like he was embarrassed. It really was too bad Kyle was in Slytherin, but really, even hats had to make mistakes sometimes, right?

_"I'm in! What do I have to do?"_ Ron practically fell out of his seat trying to scribble that on the note. Harry grinned and wrote, _"Of course, Hermione. You have our full support."_

She beamed happily at them. Vivi and Éclair would admittedly probably not wish to help her out with this sort of thing. They would do more of the research end maybe, but she could always rely on Harry and Ron for action. Draco Malfoy wouldn't know what hit him. Yes, the year was already going much better than it was that morning.

* * *

I really appreciate the feedback guys. Keep it up!

I updated with only 7 reviews, so to make up for not getting ten, I want 13 reviews on this chapter (or maybe 3 people go back and review the last one). This story IS STILL on the 10-review rule list.

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	21. Birthday Presents

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

**15,141 words**

* * *

Chapter 21: Birthday Presents

Kagome. Was. Lost.

Well, that wasn't exactly very surprising to her, but it was the truth. She was lost amongst the labyrinthine corridors of her new school. It was so much bigger than her last school, even though she was well aware her school had more students. That was also not mentioning the fact that in her old school she only had one classroom and the teachers came to her and the other students rather than the other way around. Here, she quickly learned that teachers got the classrooms and the students migrated about the school all day trying their best not to get lost.

It was only the first day and she was already sorely homesick. She wanted to be sitting in room 303B with Inuyasha in the seat on her right, constantly demanding her help on his assignments or asking for a spare scroll of parchment or borrowing a writing brush… If only Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru could get along! Maybe if they could, Inuyasha could've transferred schools _with_ her instead of being left behind when his father made the executive decision to transfer her.

She turned yet another corner. "Where the heck am I, anyway?" she asked herself since no one else was around to ask. Everyone else was in the class they were to have before lunch. She had a free hour before lunch (at least that was what Chavi said the blank spot on her schedule meant and she did trust Chavi at her words) so her intention was to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and check up on Sesshoumaru. Or would it be 'checking _in_ with Sesshoumaru'? She wasn't sure.

But she did want to see him, and that required finding him in this ungodly large place. In order to find him, she had to figure out where the hell she was. She'd gone up staircases, down staircases, and at one point, she even fell up a down staircase and found herself at the top of it but that still only made it so she was even more lost than before.

Somewhere along the line, she managed to stumble into a library and it was because of this that she felt a small bubble of hope. Back home, there were _always_ people in the library, even if it was just the first day. Unfortunately as she searched the library, the place was found to be terribly dead.

With a miserable groan, she plopped her school bag on a table and sat down at it. Kiyoshi had gone off, she assumed to hunt mice or something. She'd managed to find her way to the Slytherin house entrance again after Ancient Runes except when she left her bedroom again she realized she'd left her wand and her key to her bedroom on her desk (Sesshoumaru would be so proud of her!) which meant she couldn't exactly get in her room without help.

That was another great reason to go to Sesshoumaru; she hoped if she whined and complained enough, he'd go down with her to her room and magic the door open because her wandless lock pick spell didn't work on the door and without a wand, she was pretty much out of alternative options. Someone—Blaise or Chavi, she couldn't remember which—had said that she needed to see one of the teachers if she lost her key but she couldn't recall what teacher that was.

And now, she was lost in a giant castle and for some curious reason, _no one was in the library!_ How could that possibly be? Were the English currently boycotting libraries or something? She knew the English had a lot of stupid notions such as banning the majority of books that held useful information or whatever, but she would've never, ever guessed that she would find a library so empty!

Surely the students realized that they were already _well_ into the new school year. They already had two classes! Well, _she_ had two classes already, even if some of them didn't.

She sighed and rested her head on the table. Hopefully someone would magically realize she was in the library and—

"Kagome?" She heard Chavi's voice not far from her and jolted upright, managing to cause herself to tip right off the chair and fall on her rump. "Kagome, what are you doing here? I thought you said you were going to go back to your room and nap before lunch?" Chavi inquired, sounding more curious than anything else.

Chavi reached a hand down to Kagome to help the foreigner up and Kagome accepted the offer and then righted her chair. "Well, that _was_ the plan, and I did go back to my room," Kagome said, "it's just that I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd find my Guardian."

"Your what?" Chavi asked.

"My Guardian… he takes care of me; you know, gives me money if I need it, watches out for me, that sort of stuff." Kagome didn't really know how else to describe what Sesshoumaru did for her. "He's like… a dad, or something." That was a very disturbing way for Kagome to describe someone who she'd crushed on for the past ten years at least…

"I'm going to guess you're not trying to find Professor Llywellyn," Chavi said with a small smile.

"How'd you guess?"

"He doesn't seem to like you much from the way he treats you." The girl pushed the library chair back in place beneath the table and then adjusted her blazer sleeves. "Well, I'm done here, so I can help you out. Are you looking for the other new professors? Professor Tetsuya or Sevina?"

"Professor Tetsuya," Kagome said. "What were you doing here in the library? No one was here when I came in."

"Madam Pince, the librarian, gets copies of the new class books every time they're printed, so I help her catalog them and put them in their proper places. In return, she lets me into the Forbidden Section of the library whenever I want; it really does pay to be friends with the librarian." Chavi smirked and Kagome guessed 'friends' wasn't the real term between the two of them. It sounded more like a 'you do this for me, I'll do this for you' relationship, which wasn't really friendship.

"At the Magic Academy, we don't have a forbidden section of books. There's only one book that has been banned in the entire Japanese magical community." Kagome grabbed her bag and threw the strap over her shoulder, then followed Chavi toward the exit of the library.

"What book is that?"

"The Ice Prince by Drake Ignatius Malfoy," was Kagome's response.

"I don't know why your country banned that book," Chavi said, "since I'd hardly call it a book of the dark arts. I've read it several times—I even have my own copy—but it's more like a dark _fantasy_ story."

"Your country does funny things too," was Kagome's response. "Like banning any book with black magic spells or potions in them!"

"I'd say those bans are justified," Chavi said.

"Hardly! How can you protect yourself if you don't know what's coming? And Black Magic isn't evil either, though I'm sure Professor Sevina will teach you all about the different states of magic as we categorize them in my country and then you'll see what I'm talking about."

It didn't take long for Chavi to lead Kagome to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. On the way there, Kagome was able to ask Chavi more questions about the school and get tips on how to navigate it without (hopefully) getting lost. When they got there, Kagome knocked on the door and just a few seconds later, her knocking was answered by Kikyou.

"Ah, Kagome-chan," Kikyou smiled at her and stepped aside, beckoning the two girls to enter. "I see you have made a …friend…" Kikyou frowned at Chavi's somewhat revealing clothes (it really went without saying that Kikyou was incredibly conservative, and had loathed the school uniform at the Magic Academy, instead choosing to wear non-revealing kimonos every day).

"Uh huh!" Kagome chirped, barely taking notice of Kikyou's disapproving look. Chavi hardly looked like she cared—probably because Chavi _didn't_ care what others thought of her (she dressed however she liked, thank-you-very-much). The two girls entered the room, and Chavi noticed many changes from how Umbridge had the room. There were—thankfully—no pink frills _anywhere_. The center of the room was left completely open to free floor and small, comfortable looking maroon cushions were lined up all around the room with low tables made of polished mahogany in front of each cushion. Instead of walls to hold things, two of the walls which made up the outer wall of the castle had been replaced with glass to create large windows that let in outside light.

'Professor' Sesshoumaru Tetsuya was sitting on one maroon cushion at a table, a tea cup resting in front of him. He leaned against the window with no worry at all that it would break. Next to him was a tall Englishman who Kagome knew only by sight, yet Chavi thought for a moment she was seeing Harry Potter sitting there. He had the same messy black hair, the same lightly tanned skin, and even wore the same type of round frame glasses. The only difference was that _this_ version of Harry Potter didn't have those stunning green eyes Chavi was attracted to (not, of course, that she would ever, _ever_ admit she was attracted to a Gryffindor, what with her friends all severely against Gryffindors—she would take her childhood friends over any romance no matter how stupid she thought her friends were most of the time).

"We're just sitting down to a cup of tea," Kikyou said pleasantly. "Would you girls like to join us?" She was already getting down two cups. Chavi was going to politely decline—she'd just hijacked her first book of the year from the Forbidden Section of the library and wanted to take a look at it before lunch—but Kagome grabbed her hand and dragged her across the room.

_So much for politely declining,_ Chavi thought as Kagome chirped they would love to join. Instead, Chavi smiled appreciatively and accepted the cup of tea, kneeling as Kagome did in front of the low table.

Kagome was glad Chavi had agreed to stay. She was afraid Chavi wouldn't want to at first. "Thank you, Kikyou-san," Kagome chirped as the slightly older woman poured her a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Professor," Chavi said in turn as hers was poured.

"Well, if it isn't the _troublemaker_," the Harry Potter look-alike chirped boisterously, with an amused glance at Kagome.

Kagome blushed profusely. "I hope you aren't too mad at me…" Kagome said.

"Mad?" he laughed, "Hardly, though I was sorry not to get to meet you personally that day because of what happened. Because of you, sales on bows and arrows have _never_ been higher!" He grinned and looked at Chavi, holding out a hand to the girl across the low table. "Nice to meet you, young lady. I'm Jesse Potter, a friend of Miss Higurashi's Guardian here." Chavi shook his hand as he jutted his chin toward Sesshoumaru.

"Nice to meet you, too," Chavi said. Her mother had drilled her in manners, even though her father couldn't have given a rat's ass about manners in most cases. She rather thought her father's anti-social, mannerless behavior was suited to one who nearly glued himself to his cauldron all summer long, though. Chavi's mother was _still_ working on getting her father 'tamed' in civilized society. He had a tendency to… um… let his mouth run away without him. "I'm Chaviah Melody."

"Melody?" Sesshoumaru inquired. "I have memorized the names of all students in this school. None have the surname 'Melody'."

Chavi grinned ruefully. "My apologies, Professor. I'm used to people calling me by my middle name in place of my surname, so it's habit to introduce myself like that now. Snape is my last name."

Jesse Potter's eyes went wide. "A beautiful girl like you is _Snape's_ kid? Please tell me I'm hearing things."

"I'm afraid you heard correctly," Chavi chuckled. "But I get that sort of reaction a lot. I don't look anything like either of my parents, which raises many questions."

"What kind of questions?" Kagome asked.

Chavi shrugged. "Both of my parents have black hair, and I'm blond. My mother has blue eyes and my father has black eyes. Mine are green. The only suggestion that I'm like either of them is that I'm tall and thin like my father."

Kikyou set a plate of cookies on the table. "Go ahead," she said to the eager Jesse Potter. He attacked the plate, taking four at once with a grin. "Girls?" she asked. Kagome took one, but Chavi shook her head.

"They aren't poisoned," Jesse Potter chuckled. "Kikyou wouldn't poison _me_, would you dear?"

"I wish she would," Sesshoumaru grumbled. "You're more trouble than you're worth."

"Hey, I'm not as bad as your princess here," he nodded to Kagome and she turned red again, promptly hiding behind her cup of tea. "I've never met anyone who attracted so much trouble." He glanced at Chavi. "You might want to rethink being friends with her," he sounded like he was joking as he said it, but that made Kagome no less embarrassed. "She'll cause you more strife than you need. You'll go gray early. Look at Sesshoumaru—already white haired and he's barely nineteen years old."

"It is justified," Kikyou said lightly. "I mean, he _will_ be twenty in a month, after all."

Chavi couldn't help but giggle, which was very strange. She didn't normally succumb to giggles. She laughed, or chuckled, but never _giggled_. But it was the strangled look on the new professor's face that forced her to giggle, and at least Kagome joined her in the giggling so she didn't feel so strange. "I think being friends with Kagome will be a piece of cake in comparison to my other friends." Chavi said and Kagome beamed happily.

"And speaking of birthdays," Kikyou tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Someone seems to have missed hers; we were forced to lug a great deal of gifts all the way here."

"Probably useless junk wrapped in what would've been good cloth." Sesshoumaru grumbled. "At least from Inuyasha."

Kagome squealed happily. Chavi had to refrain from digging her finger in her ear to make sure she still had an eardrum. "Really? Inuyasha sent me a birthday present? Please, _please_ tell me you're not kidding!"

"Simmer down," Jesse Potter chuckled. "You'll break something."

"I won't break anything," Kagome promised and calmed down considerably to explain to Chavi, "Inuyasha's my best friend. He's always given me the most thoughtful gifts."

"Thoughtful isn't how I would describe 'useless'," Sesshoumaru said.

Chavi wasn't quite sure she was following the conversation, but if she thought about Blaise and the gifts _he_ gave Chavi for her birthday, she figured she could probably understand. Everyone else had gotten her something useful last year; Pansy got her a gift certificate to her favorite muggle clothing store (which was surprising that Pansy would step foot in muggle London for such a trivial thing as a birthday gift), Draco had gotten her a rather expensive voodoo kit from Knockturn Alley, and Chavi's parents had taken her out to eat at a very expensive muggle restaurant (Chavi was considered weird among her friends because she loved muggle things) and then they showed her the new house they'd just bought, where she would _finally_ get her own room.

Last year's birthday present from Blaise was a pair of enchanted dancing shoes. He'd made her put them on and she spent the next seven hours dancing because she couldn't get the damn things off, so she simply had to exhaust herself while wearing out the spell and then didn't even have the energy to throw the shoes at Blaise. She was nervous about what he was going to give her this year; she still hadn't gotten his gift. Draco had given her a new (slightly illegal) spell book, Pansy had given her a gift certificate for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions (Pansy preferred to give money or gift certificates so people could get something they might actually like), and her parents gave her an entirely brand new potions kit (and a shopping trip they would never be informed of), but Blaise wanted to top their gifts.

Chavi was admittedly very afraid. After all… it wasn't unreasonable to imagine Blaise giving her a gift that would literally bite. He'd done that when they were seven by giving her an anal seven-headed swamp snake (cut off one head, and two more grow from the stump…not her type of pet). She'd re-gifted the pet less than a week later for Draco's mother, who thought it was the sweetest gift in the whole world and then Chavi spent the rest of the day hiding in Draco's closet with him as his mother played with her new pet, and said pet ate Draco's dog…_in seven bites_.

That had to be the scariest day of Chavi's life… but if she was lucky, Blaise forgot about her birthday!

Then again, if this 'Inuyasha' character's gifts were like Blaise's gifts, Chavi doubted Kagome would sound so excited.

"His gifts aren't useless!" Kagome said and promptly pouted. "Well, okay, so maybe they're not very useful, but they're still thoughtful!" She looked at Chavi and explained, "Last year he made me a FATE CHEST, but my other friend Kouga bought me a real FATE CHEST and the cards to go with it. He was sort of upset that Kouga took his idea, and he'd spent a lot of time working with Kikyou-san to make sure the spell on the box worked the way it should."

"What is a FATE CHEST?" Chavi asked.

"FATE is a game," Kikyou explained. "The English have banned it because the accuracy of its predictions frightens many people."

"Predictions?"

Jesse Potter said, "It's like tarot cards, except different. It's difficult to explain without showing you how its done, but you place an item in the chest that is very meaningful to you—usually your wand—and the cards are laid down, F-A-T-E-. You choose which category you want to know more about and you get up to three more cards to lay down which you can lay in any of the categories as much as you want."

"I'll show it to you sometime," Kagome assured Chavi. She looked back at Sesshoumaru eagerly, wondering what Inuyasha got her this year. "So!" she questioned.

He rolled his eyes at her behavior before pointing his slender white birch wand at another door; without him saying a single word, the door opened up and several wrapped packages of various sizes flew out. Sesshoumaru carefully set them on the floor behind the girls.

Chavi watched as Kagome searched for Inuyasha's present. It turned out to be the largest one there. It was flat and square. She took the note attached and opened it. "Dear Kagome," she read aloud in English, though it was written in Japanese, "At first, I was going to give you this really cool looking bow I saw at PDI, but I changed my mind."

Jesse Potter sighed dramatically, "Well, so much for him giving a _good_ gift…" he mumbled.

"Since you're all the way on the other side of the world, I bashed Kouga's head into a brick until he bled all over. Since it was such a pretty sight, I thought I'd get a painting of it for you." Kikyou winced slightly and Kagome continued reading, "Actually, I'm only kidding. I know you don't like it when me and Kouga fight, so I changed my mind on that idea (but I really did think about doing it). Dad helped me get this, so I hope you like it. It's a magic window. I have the other one, and when I get to school I'm going to hang it up on my bedroom wall. If you ever want to talk to me, just open the window panes and we can talk as long as I'm in my room. I'll leave the curtains open so you can always see if I'm there. I don't exactly hate you, Inuyasha."

It was amusing to Kagome that after all they'd been through growing up, he still couldn't admit he loved her as much as any big brother would love their sister. He felt that saying things like that was a girl thing, and if he said it, it would challenge his manliness.

"Wow, that really is a pretty cool sounding thing," Jesse Potter said. Chavi had to agree. She wasn't sure how useful a bow would've been, or a painting of a guy's head bleeding all over the place, but certainly a window for communication with someone all the way across the globe had to be worth something. "Open it up. Let's see what it looks like," Jesse Potter added.

Kagome pulled the string on the tie that kept the rather thick blanket around the window. The blanket fell away (she was _so_ going to put that thick blanket on her bed, so even if the window wasn't that great, the blanket was still going to be put to good use in her icy room) and revealed a very nice, two-pane window with a ruffled curtain in her favorite color of deep green.

When she looked through the window, she couldn't see anything except bright red—presumably Inuyasha's curtain since his favorite color was red. Sesshoumaru said, "He is not at school until tonight, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Kagome said. She'd forgotten the school year hadn't started for her old school officially until tomorrow.

"Pretty cool anyway!" Jesse Potter said. "What else did you get?"

Kagome set the window down carefully and looked at the next present. This one was from Kouga, and couldn't possibly be a window. She peeled the note away and read it aloud like she had Inuyasha's. "To: My Woman. From: The most hottest guy you've ever seen (someday you'll realize you love me too—and I am NOT a stalker). I don't know what Lame-o Inuyasha gave you this year, but I already know mine is ten times better. I bought a way for you to write to us! I know Kiyoshi is still too small, so I purchased this cool box thing. The store owner said it's a magical letter box. You can put a letter in it, and it'll appear in MY letter box. Everyone except Inuyasha can use it 'cause he sucks and I don't want him to go in my room. So you can talk to all of us except Inuyasha. Sorry, but I can't have losers like him talking to my woman. I even painted the flag green since I knew it was your favorite color. I know you love me, Kouga."

She pulled the cloth wrapping away from the box, unable to keep herself from grinning. It was a small wood box with a hinged door on the top and a green flag on the side. "Wow, I don't think I'll be without my friends _this_ year," Kagome said.

Sesshoumaru clucked his tongue, "You realize this means you'll still be doing half of their homework? I would recommend keeping the curtain closed on the window, and only checking the box for mail once a week or they'll crawl all over you. I expect only the highest marks from you now that I am your parental unit as well as your Guardian."

Kagome flushed slightly and nodded, glancing at Chavi. She simply grinned. "Professor, you sound much like my father. If my grades fall below perfect 'O's, he said he'd transfer me to another school immediately and not let me come to his."

"Ah, I do recall Snape is the potions teacher?" Chavi nodded. "He is very useful. He has given me many tips on teaching here in England—most of which, I will definitely employ."

"I'm not sure that is a good thing," Chavi admitted.

"Why not?" Kikyou asked.

Jesse Potter said, "Dear old Snape has wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for years—since he was in school, even. I doubt he's ever wanted anything _more_ in his life. He might attempt to sabotage your career."

"I highly doubt anything will sabotage my career here, other than the fact that I am not human." Sesshoumaru sniffed self-righteously before glancing at Kikyou. She said nothing and sipped her tea. A moment of silence passed and Kagome started on her next present.

"This one is from Miroku!" Kagome chirped. She took the note and read it quickly. "Dear Lady Kagome, I hope your year in the new school goes well. We will all miss you dearly. I hope you make many lasting friendships there… if not, here is a book of potions to use against the most annoying of your enemies. Much love, Miroku." She unwrapped the book and grinned. "100 Variety Potions: Volume 9 by Inshorn Qurvain." She hugged it with a grin, "I love it!"

"That book is banned in England," Jesse Potter said. "So are volumes one through eight."

"A lot of things are banned in England," Sesshoumaru stated loosely. "Me, having a wand, is banned. Do you see me quivering and turning in my wand because it's banned?"

"No," Jesse Potter admitted.

"Now ask me if I care that her friends gave her a book illegal in this country, but legal in our own?" Sesshoumaru said dryly.

"Hey, I'm not saying it's bad." Jesse Potter said. "I was a Slytherin myself when I went to Hogwarts… But discretion should be used."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kagome said and moved onto the next present. "Dear Kagome-chan," she read, "Do you realize you left me alone among a horde of hormonal teenage boys? I am really annoyed at you for transferring, even though I know it wasn't your fault. Please inform Sesshoumaru he's an ass for taking the teaching position." Kagome glanced up at Sesshoumaru and, with a wicked gleam in her eyes, said it again, "You're an ass. Sango said so."

He rolled his eyes. "So I have heard, many times."

"Aside from the fact that I now hate Sesshoumaru probably as much as or more than Inuyasha, I miss you already. Inuyasha keeps attempting to build something in his room. He has so far set fire to his room six times, blown up his bed and his desk twice, and no longer has a solid door (there is a very large hole in the middle). He says he is going to be a great inventor someday for the magical community, but I feel he's only good at destroying things. That will come in handy when he finally cracks and becomes Japan's most wanted criminal. Either that or he's going to find he's secretly in love with Kouga and the two will become the next big scandal in our small group. I'm not sure which idea is more promising: that he's gay and attempting to hide it, or that he's going to go insane and start killing everyone. Anyway, this gift is from both Shippou and me; I did the picture, and he made the frame (I hope you would realize that from the macaroni noodles and school glue). He promises he's working on his letters, and said next time, he's going to write the letter. That kid is really devoted to you, Kagome. I think you should just adopt him already. He's been in the orphanage too long. Much love, Sango and Shippou."

She opened it to find a picture of her and all her friends (Shippou included) rough housing at the train station in Japan. She knew the picture was taken at the end of the last school year, just a few months earlier. Shippou had finished his first year of Primary School. He was five now. She was going to have to send him a birthday present. She could use Kouga's mailbox if she got something small. He loved wax crayons. Those shouldn't be hard to get a hold of, right?

In the picture, Inuyasha's normally silver hair was a bright, neon pink courtesy of Kagome's latest prank on him. He looked really annoyed at Kouga, while Kouga looked very smug. Tiny Shippou—he was a fox demon, his upper body the body of a boy and his legs that of a fox—was in Kagome's arms, laughing at Miroku who had a very red cheek. Sango was glaring dangerously at Miroku, shaking a fist at him. Other students walked through the photo randomly. It was a magical photo after all. After a moment, all of them turned to the camera and moved into place for the photo. Kagome and Shippou ended up between Kouga and Inuyasha, who both slung their arms around her shoulders and made peace signs at the camera. Shippou, still in Kagome's arms, made two peace signs—one for Kagome, the other for him since her arms were occupied. Miroku and Sango were next to Inuyasha, also making peace signs. Everyone wore very bright smiles in the photo.

The frame Shippou had made was made out of bamboo rods and had little noodles and dried beans glued to it. It had a backrest so she'd be able to place it on the table by her bedside.

"Seems that one is the best gift of them all," Chavi remarked.

Kagome was startled there were still people in the room. She'd forgotten for a moment where she was. She smiled and passed the picture to Chavi. "They're my friends. I've known them all since Primary School, except this little guy here. His name is Shippou. My parents lived next to Shippou's parents home, so I'd go over there in the summer and help teach the kids their letters. He is one of sixteen children. He sort of attached himself to me, and when his parents passed away in a fire last Christmas, he had to go to Inutaishou-sama's orphanage. My friends think I should adopt him, because he loves me so much."

Chavi stared at the picture for a long moment before asking, "…Why does this one have pink hair?"

Kagome grinned. "More to the point, why was he dumb enough to fall for my prank? That's Inuyasha."

"As great as this all is," Sesshoumaru drawled, "shouldn't you both be heading to lunch? The bell has long since rung."

"You're right," Kagome said, beginning to pick up her things. She'd shoved the book from Miroku in her bag (which was on the verge of exploding) but the picture seemed too delicate for such rough treatment, and the mailbox and window were both too large.

"Leave them, Kagome," Sesshoumaru said. "I will have a house elf take them to your quarters."

"Okay," Kagome said. She stood up and offered a hand down to her new friend. Chavi accepted it and she pulled the girl up. "Thanks for the tea and cookies." Kagome said.

"Don't mention it." Sesshoumaru said. After a short pause, he said, "Seriously. Don't mention it. I want everyone thinking I'm the spawn of hell. Kind streaks do nothing for a reputation."

Jesse Potter chuckled. "You _are_ the spawn of hell." He took something from the pocket of his robes and tossed it at the girls. Kagome barely caught it. She looked at it curiously. "Happy birthday, monster." He said to her with a cheeky grin. "You won't get one of _those_ replaced, so be careful with it. Don't lose it."

Kagome opened the small box. Inside it was a very pretty ring. It was thin and delicate and had a small diamond as an adornment to it. She made a face at it and Chavi asked, "Are you asking her to marry you?" incredulously.

Jesse Potter laughed loudly, "Good heavens, _no_. Anyone who can put up with her is going to have to be a very _patient_ man, because she's the clumsiest, trouble-attracting woman you'll ever meet. No, that's something different altogether, but I'm not going to tell you what." Kagome turned bright red. She wasn't as bad as he said, surely!

"You know she's going to lose it, right?" Sesshoumaru asked. "It's a pretty expensive gift considering you just met her for the first time."

"I've known you since you were a boy, Sesshoumaru." Jesse Potter said. "If you are willing to put your time into her care, then there certainly must be something worthwhile about her, eh?" Sesshoumaru had nothing to say to that and Kagome felt strangely flattered.

Chavi had a question completely unrelated to anything they were currently discussing however and she decided now was as good a time to ask as any. She was simply too curious to not ask. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Potter, are you at all related to Harry Potter?"

Jesse Potter raised an eyebrow at Chavi. "What makes you ask?"

"You look almost exactly like him."

"I'm surprised you could tell," he joked but he didn't leave her in suspense very long. "Yes, I am."

"But Harry said he wasn't related to PDI! I asked him when I first met him," Kagome said.

"Ah, but Harry wouldn't know of me, Kagome." Jesse Potter said.

"Why not?" Kagome and Chavi asked in unison.

Jesse Potter simply grinned. "You figure it out. You both seem like intelligent young girls… I wouldn't want to provide you with all the answers. Get going to lunch."

Kagome and Chavi left and headed to lunch as they were instructed. Kagome stuck the small box with the ring inside her pocket and tried to puzzle out why Harry wouldn't know who Jesse Potter was.

"I've got nothing," Chavi said abruptly. "I can't figure it out. Why would Potter be placed with two _muggles_ when he had a living relative in the wizarding community?"

"I think Harry mentioned something about how his parents died and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle." Kagome said.

"Hmph." Chavi muttered, "After his parents died, he was placed with two muggles. I always thought it was because he had no other family. Now to find out he's got a wizard relative… who looks exactly like him… I wonder if James Potter was his father or if this Jesse Potter was… Who _is_ Jesse Potter, anyway?"

"He's the co-founder of Potter-Demon Industries; they make weapons for the magical community. He's very famous and popular in Japan. He's number one on the list of Most Sought After Bachelors in the entire country, even more popular than Inutaishou-sama himself, and _he's_ ruler of the magical community! You have to admit, Jesse Potter is very attractive for an older guy." Kagome blushed even as she said that. "Even if he does wear those funny glasses, people love him!"

"Well, yes, he was sort of attractive," Chavi admitted, and her mind supplied, _But I'm biased because I find Harry attractive and thought Jesse Potter looked like Harry. Dear heavens, don't let daddy _ever_ use legilimens on me or he's going to _murder_ Harry and then lock me in a tower!_ Her father absolutely hated Harry. He would have a fit if he knew Chavi had openly flirted with Harry throughout the entire class of Divination. Even when she had to read Harry's tea leaves, and he had to read hers, she was having loads of fun with the Gryffindor.

And oh could she make him _blush_. She'd played with the button on her shirt so much during class the threads had snapped, so she gave it to Harry with a suggestive wink and watched him turn purple in the face. Why were Gryffindors so much fun to tease? Or, more accurately, why was Harry? She'd teased Ron Weasley all hour too, but it wasn't as much fun as Harry.

They passed by some Slytherins exiting the Great Hall and Kagome heard word of a bet between Blaise and Draco from the girls. Kagome glanced at Chavi, "What's this about a bet Blaise has?"

"Oh, _that_," Chavi waved her hand dismissively, "Blaise and Draco are always making bets. They have some sort of masculinity complex or something—probably from hanging around all girls mostly. See, there's Pansy and all her girlfriends, there's me though I have been told I'm more like a guy, and then there's Blaise and Draco in our side of Slytherin. Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid for intelligent conversation, so Blaise and Draco are surrounded by girls. Plus, now there's you, so they're always trying to one-up the other by making bets that are bound to failure."

"What's the bet?" Kagome asked.

"Blaise and Draco were bantering about whose the bigger man, as is normal for them, so Draco boasted that he could get _anyone_ to go on a date with him. Blaise bet that Draco couldn't get Hermione Granger to go with him to Hogsmeade but Draco claimed he _could_ if he wanted to, and she'd go willingly—no attached spells. But of course, Draco turned it on Blaise and said he couldn't get Granger to go on a date with him even if he put her under the Imperious curse. So now the race is on and both of them are going to try getting Granger to go on a date with them to Hogsmeade first weekend of October." Chavi explained as they sat down to lunch between two bulky Slytherins.

"What's the big deal about this Granger girl? Why her?" Kagome asked.

"She is considered to be one of the most unattainable witches of our year." Chavi looked over at the Gryffindor table. "I don't see her here, but she's usually with Harry Potter and Ron Weselfurt or whatever his name is. Granger's something of a book worm, and if you ask me, she's going to be Head Girl next year. I sort of admire her," Chavi got glares from a few Slytherins but ignored it, "because she's such a prude."

"Oh, shove it," said one Slytherin scornfully. "Even Granger has nothing on you. The only thing _worse_ than a prude is a skank like you who rides on _daddy_ for all your grades."

Chavi smiled tightly. "Makenrow, I'd like to hear you say that to daddy. I'm sure he'd love to hear your opinions." The Slytherin clammed up and scowled. "Well, if you can't say it to daddy, then don't say it at all. And next time you think of interrupting my conversation, I can't guarantee certain things won't slip out of my mouth when we're in the middle of Potions class." The Slytherin huffed and got up, leaving the Great Hall.

Kagome blinked. "So your dad's a teacher here… I think I've figured that much out."

"Mhm. He's the one up there, on the end. Daddy looks mean, but he's such a softy. We used to live in an apartment in Diagon Alley; lived there most of my life. I didn't get my own room until last year when daddy bought a house in Hogsmeade just down the road. But daddy bought the house for me and mum, because we wanted it. He was happy with the apartment." She picked at the food on the table, taking only healthy things like the fruits and vegetables. Kagome followed suit. She wished she could have rice cakes, but there weren't any at the table.

"If you live just down the road, why would you take the train to Hogwarts? Seems silly to travel to King's Cross only to come back to where you started." Kagome said.

"Mum forced daddy and me to go to a family reunion. Those are about as fun as getting stabbed in the gut repeatedly." Kagome winced at the analogy. She guessed—accurately—that Chavi did not enjoy her family reunions. Kagome always loved hers… though now her family was dead. "The only thing worse than the reunion itself is knowing it's a week-long event and that I have to wear ball gowns, though I find comfort in the fact that daddy is more uncomfortable than I am."

"What's your family reunion like?" Kagome asked. "Mine always had lots of friends, because our whole family was Grandpa, me, dad, mom, and my little brother and that doesn't make much for a family reunion."

"Usually I can take a friend to the reunion. We have one every summer, but I can only take a friend if they're male or Grandma Leera screeches about my sexuality and attempts to disown me. This year, I couldn't take anyone though, 'cause Draco wasn't available and Blaise had his own rather unfortunate reunion to attend." Chavi nearly smirked when she saw Harry Potter look across the room at her and toyed with the shaft of celery on her lip. She enjoyed the sight of his bright red face more than she knew she should admit. He looked away.

"My mom always made the best food for our family reunions. We had a really long table that we'd stretch out in the courtyard and my brother and I would invite all our friends over, and they'd bring their families. There were always over a hundred people there, so mom came up with games for us kids to play. We had lots of things, like the barrel run and the three legged races." Kagome found an apple in a fruit bowl and picked it out. "Why was Blaise's reunion 'unfortunate'?"

"His mum has had at least eight husbands; a lot of people think his mum ate them or something, but she's just had really bad luck and they took off on her, leaving her their houses and fortunes. This summer, all those husbands got together and there was a reunion to try figuring out which one of them is really Blaise's dad, since for some reason, all of them want to claim Blaise as their son. Probably has something to do with the fact that all the Zabini fortune—including all the houses the Zabini's own—is in Blaise's name." Chavi said. She turned the subject back to their original conversation. "Anyway, Blaise and Draco don't stand a chance with Granger. Especially Draco. I doubt there's anyone in the world who Draco had less chance with than Granger."

Kagome thought about her own 'relationship' with Draco and found herself raising an eyebrow, though she said nothing to the contrary. If Chavi didn't already know, she'd doubtless find out soon enough.

"And even funnier," Chavi said, "is that Potter and Weselfurt will probably tell Granger what's going on." She finished up her celery before hoisting herself off the bench and pulling her bag onto her shoulder. "Come on, then. We've got Double Herbology next with the Ravenclaws. If we get there early, you should be able to meet Professor Sprout."

-

Draco sighed as Shiva skipped ahead of him two steps, stopped, looked back at him to make sure he was still following her, and then skipped ahead of him again. It was a vicious, never ending cycle with children. He really did love his little sister, but was _he_ ever so silly? He watched her twirl around in a circle, fall on her rump, bounce back up, and skip again. He winced and hoped the house elves could get that brown dirt stain out of the dress.

Then again, he had to remember he was on his way to Herbology (running late to class of course, because he had to get Shiva from Pansy—to which he found much displeasure in the fact that Hermione Granger was actually the one watching Shiva—and then had to go to the kitchens and get Shiva some food) and Shiva really loved to play in the dirt. Maybe Snape would watch Shiva for the duration of his class? No, that was impossible because Snape had potions with first years during the time Draco had Herbology.

Draco _really_ wasn't looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures. Snape had potions class with the second years—nearly as frightening as first years, as the second years were equally as incompetent—at that time. Draco's only alternative option was to take Shiva with him to class. Yes, he did want any chance he could take at getting Hagrid sacked (and win the bet against Granger) but he did not want that chance to be at the risk of Shiva's well being.

"Dee-dee, am I going the right way?" Shiva asked, staring up at him with wide, childish eyes (those eyes were his downfall, he swore it; he'd have to be a monster to ignore those eyes!). He simply nodded and she skipped ahead again, tripped on her skirt, managed to successfully tear a big rip in the hem of the expensive fabric, and raced ahead again completely ignorant to the fact that she'd trashed her dress in just a short ten minutes.

Maybe he should've listened to the advice of… he threw that thought out before it could finish. No Malfoy would suffer being improperly dressed. The logical part of his mind reminded him that magic could only fix something so many times before he'd have to spend money… The Palls' did send Draco off with plenty of… _No._ He would not, _could not_, bear seeing Shiva in such common clothing! That stuff was something the _Weasley_ family would dress their kids in.

Draco hurried forward as fast as his limping leg would allow and took Shiva by the hand. She smiled up at him and swung his arm back and forth as much as her tiny arm could reach, still half-skipping. She was humming whatever song it was that Granger had sung to her.

Granger… damn, he hated Blaise. Why was it that he had a best friend who lived to make his life miserable? Did Blaise realize the Christmas present he'd given Draco's mother last year nearly ate Shiva? People-eating plants from African jungles were _not_ good Christmas presents! Sure, Narcissus had absolutely loved the gift (Blaise was a favorite of Narcissus's because he gave the _best, most thoughtful_ gifts ever) but Draco was terrified to know there was such a thing in his house.

Maybe if he just let Granger get close to Blaise, Blaise would grow attached and start giving the girl gifts. She'd be devoured by his attachment—probably literally. Then he could win in his bet against Granger _and_ Blaise almost simultaneously, since dead people could not date, and neither could they make sure people were not fired. The plan was almost foolproof…

Except the plan had way too many loopholes. He knew Blaise was trying to take his mind off of what happened to him that summer, but Blaise didn't even really _know_. What happened to him needed to stay on his mind; he couldn't get complacent. He couldn't allow anything to get in his way. He still had no bloody idea how he was going to steal it from… er… _not_ **steal**, but liberate, because Malfoys did not stoop to such ghastly common behavior as stealing… so he was going to liberate the artifact from the Ministry of Magic (well, they didn't really deserve it anyway, since it was a part of Draco's family history to begin with so any way he looked at it, he could justify his behavior).

But he had no idea how he was going to liberate the artifact, and he honestly didn't know what the artifact really looked like. So while he was attempting to liberate an artifact he knew only by description (he didn't even have a name for it, he only knew what it did) from a place he had already failed to break into… er… enter discretely, because Malfoys did not break into places like common thieves…

What he needed was a good, solid plan. He looked down at Shiva and suddenly had an idea. It wasn't a plan, exactly, but it was the start to one, and he could use Shiva to his advantage. He stopped walking and Shiva looked up at him expectantly. He knelt carefully in front of his sister, a warm smile on his face he would only ever give her, and said, "Granger was really nice to you, wasn't she?"

"Who is Granger?" Shiva asked.

"Er, your new friend 'Mione. I call her Granger, because it's indecent for a boy to call a girl by her name unless they're girls like Pansy or Chavi." Yeah, that should calm any inquiries about why he called her Granger, at least for a while, and hopefully Shiva wouldn't get confused because the names were incredibly different. Shiva was a very smart little girl, but she was still just a child. That wasn't to say that Draco was much older than her; just thirteen years, so he was pretty much still a kid himself.

"Uh huh! I like 'Mione." Shiva said and he thought, _God, I must be the most disgusting person I've ever met to use Shiva like this._ He kept his thoughts from his face and Shiva positively _glowed_ as she looked at one of her favorite people ever—him. He really hoped his mother recovered soon (he was turning a blind eye to the fact that his mother's chance of recovery was as slim as one-in-one-billion). That way, when his mother got better, she could take care of Shiva again.

"Well, I'm glad you liked her," he said, making sure to pit his voice in a sad tone. Shiva was always very perceptive about the changes of tone he would make to his voice, which made it far easier to handle her—sometimes. He'd already started teaching her to answer to whistling commands. If she was getting too far away from him, he could let out a sharp, quick whistle and Shiva would scramble back to him. If she did something he liked, he would let out a long, low pitch whistle, somewhat like a cat's purr, and she would practically preen happily that she had done well.

"What's wrong, Dee-dee?" Shiva asked, worry lacing her childish tone. Internally, he was both grinning and wincing. Shiva was like putty; easily manipulated. But anyone could manipulate her, and that thought scared him. He didn't want her to get hurt, but he didn't want to teach her to be distrustful of people in general.

It was only pure luck and incidence that he managed to make friends with Blaise, Chavi, and Pansy. Blaise's mother was a close family friend, so he was often brought over. Snape was Draco's godfather, so Chavi often came over or else Draco might get to go visit Snape during the summer for a few days. Pansy's family was also close to Draco's family; _so_ close, in fact, that Draco and Pansy had been betrothed since birth, practically.

He didn't want Shiva to blame luck on any friends she might make, and he didn't want her to be played by those who might seek to gain from her. She was a Malfoy! She should be the one playing; she should never be the one played!

"It's just that…" he paused, knowing the pause would be rather dramatic for the three-year-old. Indeed, she was already pouting. He brushed her bangs from her eyes; he would have to ask Pansy if there was a way to keep the bangs from falling in her eyes all the time. Shiva hated when _he_ wore hair potions, so he doubted he'd ever get her to agree to one and if he attempted to give her a hair cut, she would bite him or whoever had come near her with scissors. "Well, Granger and I really don't get along, but I don't want to leave you alone. Remember, I promised?"

"I remember, Dee-dee! You don't have to talk to her. But please, Dee-dee, can I play with her again? She was really fun! We made a fort and she sang to me and _everything_. I can play with her while you do your reading!" Shiva was really the _messiest_ looking Malfoy Draco had ever seen. Pictures of him from his childhood had shown the perfect child, not a stain on him (though he had never seen a childhood picture of him _smiling_). Shiva was so far from him, he almost found it amusing.

There were rips and tears in her expensive gown. Dark brown stains were everywhere, and everywhere there was visible ivory colored skin, she was smudged in grass stains. He took a kerchief from his pocket, licked a corner of it, and scrubbed at a dirty spot on her nose. "Yucky, Dee-dee!" she whined, attempting to impede the assault on her hard-earned dirt.

"Bah! You're filthy," he complained right back at her. "You need a bath."

"No – bath!" she yelled.

He hastily agreed with her so they wouldn't have to shout about it in the middle of the lawn. "Alright, no baths for now."

"NEVER!" she screamed, snapping her teeth at him.

_My sister is a monster,_ Draco thought. "Okay, okay," he agreed with her. _She _will_ be taking a bath later,_ he assured himself mentally, though the cynical part of his brain assured him he was kidding himself. "If you see Granger, you can _ask_ her really nicely if she would play with you, okay?" She perked up very quickly and he was glad the bath subject was forgotten.

"Yay!" Shiva cried happily. "'Mione's going to play with me!"

"I said you can ask her," Draco reminded her. "If she says no, you're not to bother her, understand? And you can't play with her during class. It has to be in the evening, after all the classes are done. Those are my terms, okay?"

"'Mione won't say no to me," Shiva assured him.

Curious, he asked, "What makes you say that?"

"No one ever says no to me," Shiva said, "except Mr. and Mrs. Palls, but they don't count 'cause they're muggles."

Draco watched as Shiva skipped happily ahead of him and he realized she was right. No one said no to her; was that a bad thing? There was very little that Draco's parents had ever denied him, but there was _absolutely_ _nothing_ that Draco's parents (or Draco) had denied Shiva. She wanted a pony last Christmas; Lucius had gone to France and bought the best pony he could find. Even though Lucius hated Shiva because she never showed signs of being magical as normal babies did (which forced them to assume she was a Squib) he still spoiled her.

No one except the muggles Draco and Shiva stayed with that summer had ever said no to Shiva. Draco tried to say no. He tried to be firm with her. She somehow wormed her way around all his rules, finding little loopholes to exploit.

_Am I manipulating her, or am I being manipulated by her?_ He wondered.

He tossed the thought aside. Of course, a three-year-old knew nothing about manipulating. He would use Shiva to get under Granger's skin. He'd show Granger the side of him he reserved only for Shiva and his mother, and Granger would be like putty in his hands. He'd get Granger to help him figure out what the artifact from the Ministry of Magic was, and by getting close to her, he'd get close to Harry Potter and he could find out from him how the stupid Golden Boy and his entourage had managed to break into the Department of Mysteries last year. Then he'd take the mudblood to Hogsmeade on a date—make her think he liked her—and after a few days, he'd crush her hopes and dreams and she would no longer be a hindrance to him; he could get Hagrid sacked before Christmas even arrived and by the end of Christmas, he would've liberated the artifact from the Ministry.

He could hardly believe how perfect the idea seemed.

With a smirk planted on his face, he approached the awaiting little girl and entered the sixth year's greenhouse. He completely ignored Professor Sprout's questioning glance and stalked over to where Chavi stood, taking place next to Kagome (most unfortunately—oh what he wouldn't give to shove the girl into the mouth of a man-eating plant). Shiva, of course, managed to find a veritable _playground_ in a sack of rather unsanitary fertilizer against the wall behind Draco.

He groaned. Why did Shiva like dirty things so much?! He was never like this when he was her age!

He heard Kagome giggle at him (stupid girl) and glared at her. "Shut up," he hissed.

"Right-o," Kagome chirped—oh how he loathed that smug little knowing look on her face. Before he could yell at her some more, and then turn and tell Shiva to get out of the dung-and-dirt mixture, _she_ said to Shiva, "Sweetie, do you want to help me?"

And of course, Shiva was _ecstatic_ to help play in the dirt so she raced right over and Kagome's dirty hands gripped Shiva under the armpits and lifted her easily up to the table where she seated the girl on the edge and explained what they were doing.

Draco really, _really_ didn't like Kagome. And what about that restraining order he had against her?! Why was he standing within ten feet of her? Oh, yeah… he approached her, not the other way around. Not that a piece of parchment saying she couldn't get closer to him than one hundred feet was going to do him a whole lot of good, since it had been six years already and the spell that would keep her one hundred feet away obviously wore off. Inevitably that made him question the capabilities of the Ministry because the restraining order was a ten-year and the spell was supposed to last _ten years_.

In all honesty, he would've _loved_ to expose the Ministry for their inability to do something right, but then the Daily Prophet would undoubtedly dig up _why_ he had the restraining order on Kagome in the first place and that wasn't exactly information he was willing to have exposed. He was still breathless over the fact that Kagome, a _mudblood_, was placed in Slytherin. There was no way she was a pureblood; she simply couldn't be if she'd been adopted. Purebloods did not give up their children to orphanages.

He shook his head mentally. He really needed to get going on his work… what was he supposed to be doing? Damn, he should've listened to Kagome as she explained things to Shiva. Somehow he got the feeling his perfect 'O' status was going to drop this year. Already he'd been late to two classes, and since Divination hardly counted as a class (he was _only_ taking the class because it was an easy 'O', since all he had to do was predict a few things and cause his predictions to come true—such as predicting Goyle would break his chair, and then sawing a crack in one of the legs) so basically he'd been late to all of his classes so far.

And that Professor Llywellyn didn't seem like the type of guy to mess with. In fact, Llywellyn seemed clinically insane. He sort of scared Draco with the way he widened his ordinarily almond shaped eyes, leaving a lot of white space around his brown irises.

Of course, Draco being afraid of something was hardly anything new. Out of all his friends, he had the most fears. Chavi was afraid of the color pink, fluffy teddy bears, and her cousin 'Ratstalker' as she liked to call him (but there was definitely real reason behind the third fear, since Ratstalker was madly in love with her—Ratstalker kidnapped Chavi and locked her away in a tower of his parent's home, forced her into an entirely pink outfit, surrounded her by fluffy teddy bears 'of devotion', forced her to drink a love potion, and quickly found out his plan backfired as Chavi had looked out the window of the tower and saw the figure of a man in the distance and fell in love with said unknown man for the next twelve days… And Ratstalker felt the terrible wrath of Snape, who had found the note left by Ratstalker _for_ Snape stating that Chavi would be his wife within four hours).

Blaise was afraid of commitment, and avoided it like the plague. He was also afraid of getting someone a present they didn't like, but to be honest, he'd never _given_ a present someone _liked_ except to Draco's mother who made Hagrid's definition of 'interesting' seem like cute, cuddly bunny rabbits.

Pansy was afraid of thunderstorms, and she spent almost every thunderstorm in Blaise's room (Draco _refused_ to let her into his room because he couldn't stand the way she squeaked every time the thunder rattled even the Slytherin house underground, though he did wonder if it was so bad in the Slytherin dungeon, how bad would it be Gryffindor tower?).

And then there was Draco. He had a very long _list_ of fears. His biggest fear was of blood, though after that summer, he thought he was starting to cope with that fear. Other fears he'd developed and maintained through the years were the fear of: hippogriffs, swamp snakes that grew two heads if one was cut off, the Forbidden Forest, death, dandelions, fire, going outside when it was dark out (he had no problem with darkness indoors, so he didn't understand that fear, he only knew it was there), Hermione Granger, cranberries, centaurs, Death Eaters, over-easy eggs, Voldemort, pigs (_not_ including the Weasley kind, since he wasn't afraid of the Weasleys), and dragons (though his father criticized him for every fear he had, the fear of dragons was criticized the most).

Just thinking of his long list of fears put him in a gloomy mood. He looked at his pot of dirt; his hands had moved on their own and planted twelve bulbs in the pot, similar to how Kagome's looked next to him: half of the bulb sticking out of the dirt, the other half buried.

Kagome whispered to him, "You have to do three pots of twelve," as if she'd known he wasn't sure what to do next. Two of Kagome's pots were done. He glared at her (he did _not_ require help from _her_) and aimed his wand at the stack of pots up against the wall.

"Accio pot," he muttered and the pot flew toward him, managing to whack a fellow unfriendly Slytherin in the head on the way. Kyle Marcus jeered at him, and Draco—in a foul mood already—aimed his wand at the sack of fertilizer behind him. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said. He levitated the sack to his pot and carefully manipulated it into tipping fertilizer in his pot. Professor Sprout hated when they used their wands, but no one really listened to her crooning anyway; everyone did it the easy way.

Once he had as much fertilizer he needed, he checked Professor Sprout's location (she was on the other side of the greenhouse with her back turned) and then used the spell to lob the sack of remaining fertilizer over three Ravenclaws and smirked as it landed nice and neat on Kyle Marcus's head, causing the big Slytherin to crash forward into his third pot of bulbs. Fertilizer, bulbs, broken pieces of clay pottery, and Kyle Marcus went spewing all over the floor by his station.

Instantly Professor Sprout was bustling over asking questions. Kyle Marcus was glaring hatefully at Draco. Draco raised one eyebrow at the boy, silently conveying a message. _Payback for this morning_, Draco thought. _I feel better already._

"I can't believe you did that," Kagome hissed. "What's _wrong_ with you?"

"Nothing's wrong," Draco grinned widely, feeling strangely elated that the witch was so shocked at his behavior. She sounded really pissed off. Why was that such a good thing? It should be a crime to be so happy to make someone so mad. He almost wanted to risk doing it again, just to make her even more angry.

Not that causing injury to Kyle Marcus was something he didn't like doing to begin with… so maybe that was why he was so happy. That was a good explanation. He was happy because Kyle Marcus had wrecked whatever the hell the project they were working on and he had to start all over. Kagome's anger had nothing to do with it. Then again… he'd _always_ gotten excited when he managed to ruffle Kagome's feathers back in Primary.

"You could've seriously hurt him," Kagome said. "Why would you do that?"

"Dee-dee, I'm hungry," Shiva whined.

"Not now, sweetie; your hands are dirty," Kagome said instantly, and then continued to glare at Draco. It was official; that glare looked really, _really_ hot on her. That was a problem: he hated her. He couldn't be turned on by his enemies! That was like suggesting that he could be attracted to Harry Potter, which was an entirely disgusting notion. Not that Draco was saying Potter was _ugly_, exactly. Potter did have some sort of attractive quality to him that… ugh, he was not even going to _think_ about it.

"Get used to it, _Higurashi_," Draco said, putting as much venom in her name as he did when he called her 'whelp'. "That was _nothing_ compared to what I'm going to do to Marcus _later_."

Actually, he had no plans for later, so he wasn't sure why he'd said he did. Why was it that his mouth kept running ahead of him? The recklessness had begun at the end of last school year and only got worse as the summer dragged on, until one gorgeous day in the beginning of July (about a week after he'd been initiated as a Death Eater), Draco told **_you-know-who_** to shove a corkscrew up **_you-know-where_**, which really didn't go over that well.

And thus began basically every problem Draco currently had. But really, it was Voldemort's fault; he shouldn't have pissed off an angry, arrogant teenager with a death wish by giving said angry, arrogant teenager (with a death wish) an order that wouldn't be followed even if the fate of the world relied on doing that _one, simple thing_.

Draco frowned as he looked around his work station; somehow between the irritable thoughts of Kagome being potentially attractive (perhaps admitting she had potential wasn't too bad, but she was still a far cry from attractive what with her rats-nest hair job, her screwed up and imperfect clothing, and the fact that she'd managed to get dirt and fertilizer all over herself—was she still afraid of bugs?—but he would _never_ admit she had that potential out loud) and his rather disturbing thoughts of Voldemort with a corkscrew shoved up his bum, he'd managed to finish his last two pots.

He looked around for a watering can. He could've sworn there was one by Kagome, since she just finished watering her pots. There, on the other side of Pansy, was a watering can. He took two steps away and heard a sudden splash behind him. The hem of his robes got wet. He looked back; there was a water puddle on the floor. Looking up, he saw the watering can.

And Kyle Marcus was scowling at the near-hit. Draco smirked, took his wand out, and (with a quick swish and flick of his wand) sent the empty can careening over the heads of Ravenclaws (who were used to this type of behavior and would say nothing on it as long as they remained _out_ of it) and watched it just barely miss Kyle Marcus's head. Kyle Marcus ducked and instead of hitting him, it smashed into the side of Heston Graybin's face (after it soared over the four-foot tall Norm Treffer). Graybin was down for the count and Draco was extremely satisfied (Kagome was glaring at him because her legs got wet and she thought he did it) as he went to borrow the watering can from Pansy's station.

When he got back to his station, he found that all of his bulbs from one of his pots had been mysteriously dug up. He glared at Kagome, "I didn't get you wet," he snapped quietly.

"And _I_ didn't dig up your bulbs," she said easily and turned back to her little game of Let's-constantly-clap-our-hands-together-because-it-will-annoy-Draco-while-singing-a-stupid-song-about-Patty's-cake with Shiva.

He had to _re_plant the stupid bulbs now, and he still had no idea what the heck kind of project they were working on. What were they planting anyway? Damn, he would have to ask Chavi later. As everyone else was let out early for having their work done (it went a lot faster if one used magic to levitate things like the fertilizer or the pots) Draco found himself stuck in the room for another fifteen minutes.

When he was finally finished, he left to find his sister. The evil woman, Kagome, had kidnapped Shiva (with the help of Chavi, Pansy, and Blaise, blast them!) so he really wasn't sure where Shiva was. He knew Shiva was in good hands with his three friends, but Kagome was probably evil enough to attempt to turn Shiva against Draco (something he would be very angry about if that actually happened).

He found them sitting by the lake. Kagome was _still_ keeping Shiva's attention, but now they were playing some sort of hopping game. Magical lines of color had been drawn on the grass and two snitch-sized stones were tossed. The two would jump in the boxes and… and he really couldn't see a purpose to the game.

Blaise whistled loudly, catching Draco's attention. Draco went over to his (quirky) friend and eased himself down. If it weren't for the fact that his leg couldn't handle it, he might've even plopped down with a heavy sigh, but his leg couldn't handle it. "What an absolutely outrageous day!" Draco whined.

Blaise ignored his complaint (he usually did, because Draco had _many_ complaints about basically _everything_) and whispered, "I really don't get this game. They just keep hopping back and forth. I'm getting a cramp just watching it," Blaise shuddered. Ah yes, the bane to Blaise's existence was any form of exertion except Quidditch.

"What's with the stones?" Draco asked. "I mean, they're just tossing them and then ignoring them, and then tossing them again."

_Completely_ ignoring the fact that Blaise and Draco were already talking, Pansy interrupted by shoving her hand in Draco's face (at least she appeared to have _washed_; Kagome and Shiva were both still so filthy, a high powered jet stream of water wouldn't get them clean). "Do these fingers look off to you? I went to Madam Pomfrey but look what my finger does when I do this," she did some awkward thing and her fingers bent backwards. Draco winced in disgust.

"Ew!" Blaise cringed. "Pan, that is _the_ most disgusting thing I've _ever_ seen!"

"That is really gross," Draco added. "Looks painful."

"It doesn't hurt. I can just bend it up and down." Pansy said.

"Pan, you have double-hinged fingers," Chavi said, "don't let it go to your head. It's a birth defect, not a side effect." Chavi never bothered to look up from her book as she let the words slip carelessly from her mouth.

Pansy shrieked in terror. "Defect?! I'm not defective!" Draco stuck his finger in his ear and wiggled it a bit, making sure he still had an eardrum. "Chavi, how could you say that?"

Chavi shrugged and rolled over on the grass so she was lying on her stomach (and her skirt ended up hiked a bit more; seriously, Chavi needed a lesson in modesty… _or_ a lesson in caring, because she didn't care and maybe that was the problem). She propped her chin on one hand and rested her book in front of her, holding the brittle pages of the tome open with her free hand. Draco elbowed Blaise when he caught his friend's eyes wandering to the quite visible cleavage Chavi showed. It had been hilarious when she gave her button to Potter. Draco had thought Potter's head would explode from all the blood pressure. If Snape ever found out his daughter had been flirting with Potter… Draco grinned. Snape would probably pop a few blood vessels.

"Chavi," Draco said, "put some clothes on or something."

"Does it bother you?" Chavi murmured, looking up at him through her long, curled lashes. She might _look_ demure when she wanted to, but Draco knew she was anything but demure. She was downright shameless sometimes, he thought, which was really strange since she was probably the only Slytherin above fourth year who was still a virgin. (Of course, that was not counting Kagome, as Draco _seriously_ doubted anyone would want to bed _her_).

"Yes, it does," Draco said seriously. He did sometimes wonder _why_ Chavi was still a virgin; heavens knew she was good looking enough to have men audaciously crawling to kiss her feet and do her bidding like she were some all-powerful queen (and in some cases they did—she had a lot of Ravenclaw admirers), but none of her friends would look down on her if she did get involved with someone. Draco thought a relationship would be healthy for Chavi, because if she spent much more time in the library, she'd probably magically transform into Granger.

"Alright," Chavi smiled at him devilishly and held her hand out to him. "Give me your blazer. I'll wear that."

"Absolutely not," Draco said. "Tie your robe shut. I'm not _un_dressing so you can actually have something to wear."

"Then I guess I stay like this—half naked as you seem to think I am." He grumbled as he took his robe off and then his blazer, handing it over to her. He pulled his robe back on. Why was it she always demanded his clothes when he was just looking out for her? He watched as she sat up, pulling off her robe and pulling on the blazer over her own seemingly too-small clothes. As she lifted her arms, the hem of her shirt exposed her belly and a rather nasty set of scratches.

Blaise had seen that too. "Chaviah!" Blaise practically tackled the girl as he launched himself at her, causing her to fall back down into the grass. He pinned her arms above her head, pulling the hem of her blouse up to show the nasty scratches. Draco thought Blaise was rather lucky her legs were bent beneath her or else he would've been in some serious pain.

"Gerroff, you big oaf!" Chavi growled, glaring at him.

"Chavi, you have a sore tummy!" Shiva gasped.

Kagome stared at the spot on Chavi's stomach curiously. "Did you scratch yourself?"

"Blaise, _get off her_," Pansy snapped, whacking the boy upside the head. "You don't just tackle a girl! Now look, you've ripped three more of her buttons off!" She dragged the boy off and Chavi glared at him.

"I'll thank you to stay _off_," she said. She slammed her book shut, crammed it in her bag, and stood up. She appeared not to care that the bottom three buttons on her shirt were missing, and that due to those missing buttons, her shirt was pressing open and they could clearly see the four perfectly lined scratch marks. She glared at them all before taking off toward the castle.

Draco grabbed her robe and his bag. "Watch Shiva for me," he told Blaise and Pansy. "I'll meet you in Potions."

"Dee-dee," Shiva called to him.

He glanced at his sister, already several paces away—he was going to follow Chavi and find out what was with the scratches. They were most certainly not there yesterday night, and she'd worn that blouse she'd adjusted especially so it would show her belly button. Ordinarily, he might've caught up to her, but he barely managed to keep up with her long strides enough to know she was headed for Slytherin house.

She didn't stop in the common room, so he walked the long corridors until he came to her bedroom door (coincidentally also his bedroom door) and he knocked on her nameplate. The door flew open and an angry Chavi was standing in the way. "Go _away_," she said. "I'm not in the mood for your questions."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her and pushed his way into the room. She didn't protest much more than an angry growl, so he took that as a good sign. She slammed the door closed and glared at him some more. He turned to her and he simply _stared_ at her. He didn't really need to ask anything with her. If he stared long enough, she'd give in. He loved that he knew that about her; she'd avoid questions if they were verbal, but she couldn't stand his 'method of questioning'.

As he had known she would, she cracked. She leaned against the back of her door and said, "Alright! Fine! I had a run-in with Marcus this morning. Okay?"

"Not okay," Draco said. "Explain to me what happened."

"Kagome and I went to take a bath this morning after that new class got let out. When we were done, I brought her back to her room, and I went to go in my room and Marcus was there. I didn't notice him until I'd gotten my door open and…" she frowned.

Draco winced, "Did he do anything?" He would've been in his room at that time, most likely. But the rooms were sound proof.

Her silence was all he needed as an answer. _Something _had happened. Out of all the things that Marcus could do to a girl like Chavi… his mind made a terrible list. She stared at the ground for a long minute and then said, "Marcus didn't do _that_, if that's what you're asking. This," she waved to the scratches on her stomach, "is just where he grabbed me and dragged me in here. I got these for fighting him—I nailed him a good one in the chest with my heel when I did get free, and he's got scratches all over his arms. I think he might've been looking to do that, but changed his mind when I started kicking his arse." She looked a bit smug for a moment. "_Now_ why don't you tell me muggle self-defense is useless, Drake?"

He caught her green eyes with his. "Are you hurt, Chavi? Seriously, I want to know."

"I've already seen Madam Pomfrey for any damage, though Marcus did use the Cruciatus curse on me and I didn't tell Madam Pomfrey about that." She sighed, "Don't go telling Kagome or Blaise; Pansy knows, but you _know_ how Blaise gets and I'd rather not find out how Kagome will react to an Unforgivable."

Draco thought about that summer and closed his eyes. He could _picture_ it in his mind's eye. A happy family having dinner, unaware that Draco was watching them from beneath an invisibility cloak. They were completely ignorant to the fact that he had orders to… He shoved the memory away; it would do him no good to think of that now. Not that it would matter to anyone else, but he _didn't_ follow those orders and doing so got his mother and sister in trouble.

If he had just listened, his family would be safe; he wouldn't hate his now-dead father so severely, because Lucius would've never given up the family secret to appease the Dark Lord's anger (though he still ended up dead anyway), and he would still be working for an evil (who had no class whatsoever—seriously, _eternal life and world domination_ as an ultimate goal? What ever happened to _originality_ anyway?) wizard.

"Higurashi may be an idiot," Draco said, "but I'll say one thing for her. She's seen and dealt with worse than the Cruciatus."

"What is your history with her, Drake?" Chavi asked finally.

He'd wondered how long it would take one of them to ask. That didn't make him any more willing to tell, but he did wonder how long it would be. "We simply clashed personalities in Primary School," Draco said, though it was far more than a clash of personalities that caused the gigantic rift between Draco and Kagome. Their 'clash' left _scars_ on both of them.

"It has to be more than," Chavi started, but Draco raised an eyebrow at his childhood friend.

"Drop it," he told her. "You'll get no more from me. It was six years ago, it's already happened, I'm done thinking about it." She only looked more curious, so he attempted to stall her curiosity. He didn't want to have her questioning Kagome about it, since he really had no idea if Kagome would talk about it. "And before you go asking questions, realize that Higurashi doesn't like talking about it any more than I do." Chavi frowned, but they could hear a loud bell as it rang throughout the entire castle. "Oh yay," he drawled, "Potions class." He would never tell Snape (or anyone else) but Potions was the hardest class he had. Snape always made it look like he constantly gave Draco an easy ride (Snape got a kick out of tormenting Potter) but he seemed to come down harder on Draco for perfection because he actually cared.

At least Draco wasn't _Chavi_. He wouldn't be immediately transferred out of Hogwarts if his grades fell below 'O' in every class. Chavi would. Of course, when his father was alive, if Draco came home with less than perfect grades his father would freak out, call him wretched names, and lock him in his room. Damn _Granger_… his father smashed, ripped, and burned up almost everything Draco owned when he found out a _mudblood_ had better grades than Draco.

And Draco was going to totally crush her in revenge… actually, he wouldn't have ever bothered getting revenge except he did have that bet with Blaise and somehow crushing Granger seemed fitting at the moment… It was just a really good thing that Blaise didn't know about the strangled animosity between Draco and Kagome, or Draco would've failed the bet before it even began. She was probably the only person in the world who he had absolutely no chance with (_not_ that he wanted one, of course).

Chavi grinned at Draco. "Daddy's lesson plans for this year shouldn't be too hard. We're mostly going to get time consuming potions and we'll probably be paired off."

Draco grumbled, "It's those time consuming potions that are the hardest. Oh, and while we're on the subject, you want to do me a favor?"

"Depends," she said as she grabbed her bag. "I do like how this shirt only has three buttons now, so if you ask me to change shirts, then 'no' is the only answer you'll get."

He glared darkly at her. Shiva had _better_ not grow up to like clothes like Chavi wore, that was all he had to say about that. "No, it wasn't about the shirt, but do you want Godfather Sev to see you like that?" he looked pointedly at the scratch marks.

"Good point," she said. She went to her closet and shifted through her blouses, pulling out one that was equally as tight as the one she was wearing and then went behind her changing curtain to switch shirts. Draco had never really understood why she had that curtain, since no one could get in her room without her assistance and they didn't generally hang out in her room. It was always either Draco's room or the common room.

"So what's this favor about?" she called over the curtain.

"Remedial Potions. I'm one of the prefects being forced to 'aid' the stupid sixth years who McGonnagall convinced Snape to keep in class even though they were below the level they needed to be at to continue forward." Draco crossed the room to Chavi's bookshelf, peering at the titles. He was unsurprised to find that most of the titles on the shelf were slightly illegal.

"What about it?" Chavi asked. "You want me to watch Shiva during that time?"

"No, I'd like you to take my place tutoring the idiots."

She scoffed and the shirt she'd been wearing was tossed to hang over the top of the standing curtain. She pulled down the other one. "Absolutely _not_, Drake. I'll watch Shiva, but I'm not a prefect so therefore should not be asked to do prefect duties."

"Aw, come on, Chavi. Pansy wouldn't even _be_ a prefect if you didn't turn Dumbledore down. You're _more_ than qualified."

"So what if I get good grades. I have to. Daddy wouldn't have it any other way. That doesn't make me qualified to tutor a bunch of morons about something they'll never understand in a million years."

With a rather cruel smile on his face that he had to viciously tamp down, he pulled out his trump card. "Potter is going to be there." Ah yes, the scandalous secret she'd tried to keep from herself for years… Her growing attraction to Harry Potter. She'd worked so _hard_ to become invisible at Hogwarts (which only got harder the older she became because she grew to be quite attractive) so people wouldn't accuse her of riding on her father for her grades. It was the reason why she'd turned down the prefect badge. She would easily slip in and out of each class unnoticed when Harry Potter was a part of that class because _everyone loved the bloody Golden boy_.

But Draco was probably one of the closest people Chavi had to a confidant, and he took pride in noticing the little things about her that she tried to keep secret from even herself. The way she stared so intently at Potter every time he was in her class, the way she would find herself short of breath every time he happened to look in her direction (but somehow never really seemed to see her, if his cluelessness to who she was earlier that morning was any indication), and the discrete (yet obviously pleased) flush to her cheeks as she flirted viciously with Potter earlier that morning were obvious indications that she was crushing on the Gryffindor.

"Who cares if Potter will be there?" Chavi snorted heavily and Draco almost thought he was going to have to tutor Potter. He was going to _need_ that extra couple of hours for studying—or most likely wrestling Shiva into a bath—or sleeping. If he had to tutor a bunch of idiots, he'd only stress himself out and at that point, stress was the last thing he needed.

"You'd get more time to torment Potter; I don't think he's popped a blood vessel in his brain quite yet," Draco tried.

She walked out from behind the curtain, pulling her robe over _his_ blazer (he probably wasn't going to get that back) and found her to be smirking. "Alright, then," she agreed. "I suppose I can do this for you."

He smiled at her and told her sincerely, "You know, if you _like_ Potter, you can go after him. A moron like him _would_ still be single." He was surprised to see a pink tinge to her cheeks. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"There's nothing to notice," she said, "because I don't _like_ Potter."

"And you're going to tutor Remedial Potions because you want to," Draco added, "not because Potter's going to be there and you can turn on the charm and turn him red as his house."

She flinched slightly, "Okay, maybe I… do…" she said slowly. Then she very slowly, very carefully met his eyes.

He held up his hands in surrender, a broad smirk on his face. He did _so_ love it when he was right. "All I have to say is, if you go after him you're looking at a _lot_ of work. He's an idiot, and not to mention the Dark Lord's enemy. You'll put yourself in bad eyes."

She smiled a saccharine sweet smile, pulling her robes over her shoulder. "Drake, dear, you _know_ I love you, but you're blind if you haven't noticed by now that I walk to the beat of a different drum. _You_ follow You-know-who, and even if I'm your friend, I think that's the dumbest mistake you could possibly make."

"You have _no_ idea," Draco murmured but thankfully she didn't hear.

"What?" she asked.

"I said 'Go after the moron'," he lied. Blaise and Pansy knew what happened to Draco that summer, and they knew the consequences behind what happened, but he wasn't going to tell Chavi. He couldn't bear the thought of her forthcoming 'I told you so' speech.

She smirked at him. "Well, I suppose I could see what happens," she agreed, "but if—on the very slim chance—Potter and I end up more than 'flirter and flirt victim', you better help me break the news to Blaise because I'd rather not have him offing Potter."

"Agreed," Draco said, "but breaking the news to Godfather Sev is _all_ up to you. I'll have no hand in it." She winced but nodded. And, he realized this might just work more to his favor. If Chavi could get close to Potter, she could get Potter to tell her about how he broke into the Ministry, though he wouldn't tell Chavi about that yet. He'd simply have to work her curiosity up slowly and surely she'd ask… But he'd keep the Get-close-to-Granger-and-Potter-will-follow idea just in case. Not that he wasn't going to _crush_ Granger anyway….

Manipulating Chavi was going to be much harder and have more consequences than manipulating Shiva would.

It took a long moment of mental contemplation for him to decide against manipulating Chavi. She was one of his best mates, and one of the few people in the world who didn't like him because of who he was or what he could do for them. He wasn't going to risk what he had with her, at least not yet. He'd go with the Granger plan first, and if that failed, then… it simply couldn't fail. He didn't want to do that to Chavi.

"Darling, you're staring at nothing again," Chavi said. "We need to get going or daddy's going to throw a fit." He nodded at her and the two of them headed for Potions class. He really, _really_ hoped his plan to reel Granger in would work.

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Thank you so much for all the reviews! This story IS STILL on the 10-review rule list. 

If you leave an anonymous review, please leave me a VALID email to reach you! I tend to get really annoyed when anonymous review emails turn out to be fake.

I hope you liked this chapter!


	22. Scary Shiva

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

**9,489 words**

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Chapter 22: Scary Shiva

Harry almost felt as if someone was playing funeral music in his head as he, Ron, and Hermione had to make that unfortunate trek down into the dungeons. After his grades last year, he had been very surprised to find out that he was in Potions. The only explanation for him being in Potions again was that Snape couldn't bear to lose his favorite torture victim… or at least, that was the only explanation he and Ron had rather intelligently come up with. Hermione, of course, felt there was an entirely logical explanation for them being in the class still… though she could not come up with a single one.

Harry and Ron both moaned as they saw the door to the classroom up just ahead. "Hey, mate, I reckon we skip." Ron suggested hopefully. "I mean, it's not like anyone would care."

"Oh, no you two don't!" Hermione frowned at them both, and then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I need you guys. Remember? The plan?"

Ron scoffed, "It isn't like you _really_ need our help. What you _need_ is a trunk full of hair products and Lavender Brown." Ron completely missed the flames that seemed to spout from Hermione's eyes. "I mean, look at her." His eyes were practically glued to the girl who walked several paces ahead of them. "She really knows how to look pretty."

Hermione huffed indignantly. The only reason Ron was not currently suffering bodily harm for his idiotic comment was probably because Harry was between Ron and Hermione (somehow they all seemed to end up walking like that, all the time…). "If you're implying that I am not pretty, Ronald Weasley," Hermione began.

"Er," Ron began nervously, "I wasn't saying anything like that! I was just saying… well, your hair is really bushy!" It seemed as though Ron really hadn't gotten the concept behind 'white lies'. His Gryffindor honesty would probably always get him into trouble. Harry rather thought Ron would do well in those candy bar commercials on the muggle television where the girlfriend asked if she looked fat in a dress.

Except that wouldn't work for Ron anymore, because Hermione was fluent in 'mouthful' (Ron's second language). Sometimes Harry thought she pretended not to understand to keep the peace between them a bit smoother, but sometimes she was able to decipher some pretty complex phrases.

"I'll have you know it's only that way because I brush it when its dry!" She stormed into Potions, and Ron knew he was going to have to do something miraculous to get her happy again. He and Harry followed Hermione into the room.

Snape was at the front of the room with a newspaper in his hands. The language it appeared to be written in was certainly not English. It looked like symbols of some sort. There was a stack of newspapers folded on Snape's desk. The Professor looked up at the three upon their entrance. "There will be assigned seating this year," Snape drawled in his unexcited tone of voice. "The seating chart is on the board." He turned back to his paper.

Harry glanced at the board. There were more counters this year, but they were slightly smaller than last year's counters. According to the board, each counter would have two people at it, unlike the previous year when three people could fit at a counter. He grinned when he saw Hermione was his desk partner. Hermione smiled at him and the two of them went to their allocated counter.

"This might not be a bad year," Hermione whispered to Harry.

And then Ron came trudging over. He sat directly in front of Hermione. The green look on his face made him look like a green tomato with red hair. "I think I made fate really mad," he complained. Harry looked at the board, half expecting Ron to be seat-partners with Malfoy. Instead, the words "Chaviah Melody" were written next to Ron's name.

Harry smirked at his friend. "Better you than me, buddy," Harry told him. "I screwed up at making _tea_ this morning because of her. I'd rather not find out what I can screw up in Potions."

"I wasn't even her partner, and I broke six tea cups!" Ron whined, turning in his seat to look at his friends.

"Who are you talking about?" Hermione asked as more students filed into the room and began seating themselves in their designated spots.

"It's that Slytherin, Melody!" Ron half-shouted. Harry thought he saw Snape look up for a moment, but then Snape was reading again so he ignored it. "She's making mine and Harry's life a living _hell_ in Divination! Broken cups, spilled tea… Harry even fell off his chair!" Harry thought he saw a twitch to Snape's lips… But that was silly…

"And not to mention that little girl," Harry added. "Malfoy's sister."

"Malfoy has a sister?" Hermione asked incredulously, though there was something about her tone that suggested she knew already. Harry wondered where she'd found out about it. She hadn't shown up at lunch, but Draco Malfoy and his little sister weren't there either. Plus, there had been no word on it passed around yet that Harry knew of, though he would bet everyone would know by later that evening.

"Yeah," Ron said, not seeming to notice Hermione's tone. "Her name is Shirley, I think."

"I thought it was Sada," Harry said, carefully watching Hermione's expression. As he had expected, she bit her lip as if holding back a comment. What was she hiding? "Whatever it was," Harry continued, knowing full well what the girl's name was, "Malfoy is really different around her."

"That's why you have to be real careful," Ron whispered to Hermione. "In just an hour, he had all the Gryffindor girls in Divination like… giggling and stuff… It was the most awful Divination class of all! Harry and I thought about quitting."

"Hmph," Hermione glared at Ron, "I'll be just fine, thank you Ron. And I won't need your help, either." She was talking about her little plan against Malfoy. Harry groaned. That meant his workload in her plan probably just doubled…even if she never mentioned what her plan really was. He guessed it had something to do with a very large rock squishing a certain ferret… one could never be too hopeful, of course.

"Bloody hell, 'Mione, I didn't mean you weren't pre"—he began, and then trailed off as the blond beauty in her altered school uniform sat next to him. Ron's ears looked like they could be on fire. He turned and faced the front of the classroom, and when that didn't seem enough, he scooted his bench away from Chaviah toward the wall, and then turned to stare avidly at a pickled rat in a jar on the closest shelf.

Hermione scowled instantly at Chaviah, probably hating the girl for her being Slytherin. Harry didn't like Chaviah all that much because the girl was insistent on making him screw up. He was pretty good at screwing up on his own. Divination was his best subject, but Harry thought it was now, effectively, the worst part of the week…and his week was still barely starting!

Harry shuddered slightly as Draco Malfoy took a seat behind Harry. He didn't like having his back so open to his enemies… Pansy came into the room with Draco's little sister. The little girl was an absolute mess, which was very startling. Harry would never have expected a Malfoy to be covered in dirt. Pansy walked the little girl across the room to Draco and helped the girl up onto a stool beside Draco. Harry assumed there must have been three stools or something.

As Pansy went to move across the room, Chaviah flagged her over. The three Gryffindors could easily hear the whispered words without having to strain, despite the slight chatter in the room. "Where is Kagome?" Chaviah asked.

"With Blaise." Pansy answered. Chaviah pointed to the other side of the classroom. Pansy and the three Gryffindors looked. Blaise was there, but no Kagome was in sight. "Well, then I don't know. Blaise and I split up; I had to take Shiva to the loo, and Blaise needed to get something from his room. I thought Higurashi was with Blaise."

"It wouldn't hurt to be a bit more observant, Pan," Chaviah said.

"Hmph!" Pansy snorted, "I take my leave of you," she said, almost like an arrogant noble… wait, Harry thought, she was an arrogant noble. Pansy stalked across the room and took a seat by Blaise. A few more stragglers stumbled into the room. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were among them. They, like Ron, had Slytherin partners. They groaned and found their seats.

Once the final bell had rung, only one seat was left open: it was next to Draco. According to the seating chart, Kagome was supposed to sit there… except she wasn't even in the room.

Snape folded up his paper carefully, set it on his desk, and then glanced around the room with narrowed eyes and his usual Snape-sneer on his face. Harry thought that expression could couple the question of 'Why am I here, again?' but Snape never verbally asked that within Harry's hearing range.

"Where is Kagome Higurashi?" Snape droned. No one seemed to know. An eerie silence followed the question before Snape waved his wand at the board. The seating chart disappeared and in its place they saw instructions:

**Page 34 of text book. 3-foot essay due next Monday at the beginning of class. "Halitaserum" Potion due by end of term. You and your partner will test your potion before handing it in. To be worked on with assigned partner.**

Harry and the rest of the class flipped open their text books to page 34. "Truth Serums" was the chapter heading. Harry was so glad he got Hermione as a partner. She was practically glowing with excitement. Among the listed truth serums the book talked about, it did not have the directions for making "Veritaserum", which had been used on Harry once or twice. It did speak about the potion, saying that it was the best in its category.

The only truth serum the book had a recipe for was "Halitaserum", which only stayed in a person's system for about five minutes before the truth-giving effect dissipated. According to the book, anyone given more than the recommended dose within twenty-four hours could suffer side-effects such as vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, migraines, or severe cramps—or possibly all those symptoms combined, if they were unlucky enough.

"Copy down the assignment and open your books to page eight of your text book." Snape called out. "You will make," he stopped talking as the door opened suddenly, the handle crashing into the wall. Kagome squeaked and fell into the room. Her messenger bag was totaled and all her things went spewing all over the place. Harry thought Kagome had more books than even Hermione kept in her bag.

Snape looked at the fallen girl with an expression quite similar to that worn by a person who just bit into a lemon. "You are late," he said in a disapproving half-sneer.

Kagome's head shot up to look at the teacher. The expression on her face told Harry she'd been expecting someone else to have said that, but her tone of voice suggested otherwise. "Sorry. I was with Blaise, but then he was gone, and I got lost. Luckily I came across this painting of a knight and he was most helpful in getting me here."

A knight? Harry had the amusing image of Kagome getting lost in the dungeons and finding herself near the Divination tower and the portrait of Sir Cadogan. Her cheeks certainly were flushed enough to have gone all that way…

Small giggles shuffled through the students, but a high-powered Snape-glare turned the giggles off immediately no matter who they were from. Kagome reached for her broken bag and looked at the exploded seam of it. She muttered something rather darkly in her own language (if he had to guess what she said from her facial expression and her body language, Harry would say she either said, 'Stupid bag' or 'Greasy git' but he had no way to verify that) and then started to pick up her many books and her other items.

Harry wondered how she even got all those things to fit in her bag, but pushed the thought aside. With all her things in her hands (the teetering tower that threatened to tip…) she carefully stood up and peered around all her things to see Snape still biting the lemon. "Um, where should I sit?" she asked the teacher.

Professor Snape pointed to the seat behind Hermione. "You will be partners with Mr. Malfoy this year," he said coolly, but Kagome's features became dark with a scowl. "Take your seat, Miss Higurashi."

"Absolutely _not_," Kagome said suddenly, and everyone watched Snape, eager for a reaction. No one ever talked to him like that before. It was her very first encounter with her head of house and they could all see quite clearly that he, for one reason or another, did not like Kagome despite that she was in his house.

"No?" Snape asked, almost as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

Kagome said, "There's no reason for me to repeat myself."

Snape was silent for a moment, as if contemplating how best to continue forward without seeming like a total jerk. The fact that he really was a total jerk went unmentioned. "I have been requested to partner you with someone who will not… _hinder_… your learning experience."

"You don't seem like the type of person to take requests," Kagome pointed out. "What did my Guardian bribe you with to get you to agree to that stupid request? Because simply _being_ in this school is going to hinder my learning experience." As she spoke, her voice got snippier, and even the Slytherins were bristling at the subtle slight against their school. "I should be in Japan, learning real things. Instead, I come to a country where basically everything is banned."

Harry thought if Snape's eyes got any narrower, he'd have them closed. Snape asked, "And why is it, Miss Higurashi, that you refuse to partner with my best student?" Hermione bristled slightly beside Harry.

"I have several reasons," Kagome told him seriously. "Should I start from the top of the list? We'll be here all night."

Draco cleared his throat, doing a marvelous impression of Umbridge. "Hem hem…" Everyone turned to look at him as he invaded the silence. "Professor Snape," he said in a sick, sweet tone of voice and directing a slight glare at Kagome, "We both know Granger is better than I am at Potions."

Kagome turned her attention back to Snape. "There you have it! Miss Granger is your best student. So, you can partner me with your best student. But not Draconius Malfoy."

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape drawled, "be quiet." The force in his tone, directed at Draco, was surprising. He sounded cold and detached, where last year at that time he sounded much warmer while talking to Draco. Draco fell silent and a few Slytherins snickered. "Miss Higurashi, you had best give me a reasonable explanation in the next thirty seconds as to why I should not pair you with Mr. Malfoy, or else _take your seat_."

The day seemed as though the surprises would never end. Kagome let go of everything in her arms and scrambled through her mess of papers, tossing things left and right as it appeared not to be what she was looking for. Finally she said, "Ah ha!" and she got up with a large yellow envelope in her hands. Harry was sure the thirty seconds had already past.

Kagome stepped over her new mess and held the envelope out to Snape. He took the envelope and pulled a sheaf of papers from it. For a moment, the class seemed to hold its breath. Snape then said in his coldest tone of voice _anyone_ had ever heard, "Mr. Malfoy… I want to see you in my office, immediately. Mr. Potter, trade seats with Miss Higurashi; you will be Mr. Malfoy's partner. Miss Higurashi, take a seat. On the board is your first assignment." Kagome scrambled around the room, picking up her things. Harry wondered why she didn't just use magic, but figured she must have a reason for it.

Harry glanced at Hermione as he packed up his books. If looks could kill, Hermione would have been in Azkaban for the brutal murder of Severus Snape. Thankfully they couldn't (unless one happened to be a basilisk). As Harry turned around, he saw a strangled look on Draco's face. Harry walked around the counter and sat in the seat behind Hermione.

Kagome took Harry's seat and Draco limped up to the front of the room where a door led into Snape's office. Snape swept after the boy and the door was shut. As soon as it closed, quiet talk filled the room. Everyone was speculating about what they had just witnessed. People were questioning Kagome from all angles, wanting to know what had just happened and why she quite clearly had something against Draco Malfoy.

Kagome ignored all those questions and began rearranging all her things. Harry wanted to know what that was all about too, but he could tell she didn't want to talk about it, and pressuring her for information wasn't going to make her talk.

And then it settled in. Harry was partners with Draco Malfoy; they were to make a truth serum and test it out on each other… That could either be really good, or really _bad_ for him. He flipped open the book to page 34. Maybe there would be an anti-truth serum he could take before hand?

Before he could start reading, a shadow overcast him. He looked up, expecting to see one of his classmates staring down at him. Instead, Draco's sister stood on the counter with a jar of Draco's ink in her hand. She had probably taken it out of Draco's bag, which was also on the counter. With the most evil little girl smile Harry had ever seen, Shiva upturned the ink bottle on his head.

"What the hell!" he cried out, falling off his chair. Shiva laughed and whipped the jar at his head. Harry barely managed to duck (with black ink running down his face, sure to leave a stain) and the jar shattered on the wall.

The attention turned to Shiva; she dug around in Harry's bag, taking out three jars of ink and putting them with two more from Draco's bag. She had the skirt of her dress like a sack and kept them in there. With a sinister grin and the most chilling laugh ever to come from a little girl, she said, "I AM GOING TO HAVE FUN!" She used her teeth to pull the cork out of the jar (Harry thought immediately of one of those war shows Dudley used to watch where the hero would pull the ring from a grenade out with his teeth before tossing it) and then started flinging ink left and right.

Students (Gryffindor and Slytherin alike) started running for it. Kagome squeaked and ducked behind her counter with Hermione, Ron and Chaviah. Harry guessed braveness for Gryffindors took a wild turn for the non-existent when it came to a little girl with ink that could stain. Cackling madly, Shiva jumped from table to table without fear for the three foot distance between the counters, and dug in bags for more ammunition. She would then race across counters and chairs to the corner with the most people and fling more ink, and then the bottle when it was empty.

Ink soon coated almost everything. Snape was going to be so pissed…

Pretty soon, students were attempting to get close to the little girl to immobilize her. A few students tried to use spells against her, but Kagome shrieked, "NO SPELLS! You'll hurt her!" and this black jello-like thing floated around after the little girl and caught all the spells instead. Harry wasn't sure if that was Kagome's doing, or somehow the child did it.

Then, of course, someone managed to get close enough to Shiva to grab her, but she bit them. They not only let her go, but they dropped their wand. It was a frightening thing to watch that three-year-old with a wand.

"FUN! FUN! FUN!" Shiva shrieked, aiming the wand and shouting, "ABRA CADABRA! HOCUS POCUS! MAGIC ZILLY-WOO!" No one was really sure _what_ spells she was casting, but bright flashes of white flew from the student's wand and crashed into the walls, making an awful raucous.

In one dash away from the mad child, Harry ended up near Pansy and Blaise. He heard Pansy hissing, "I thought she was supposed to be a squib!"

Blaise said, "Well, we all thought wrong, obviously!" He slipped on some ink on the floor and Pansy and Harry both tripped over him.

"Where's Snape?!" Harry demanded of no one as the three of them got to their feet, glancing around for the little girl. She was by the door to the room… the rest of the class was by the back. "Can't he hear us all screaming bloody murder?"

Blaise said, "He's probably cast a sound proof charm on his office, which means he can't hear us and we can't hear him."

"Useful," Hermione drawled sarcastically.

"At least she's too short to reach the door knob…" Ron muttered. "That'd be pretty bad if she got out."

Ron spoke too soon. With a loud, "POKERY-DOCKERY!" a chair floated over to Shiva and she climbed up on it and everyone screamed and scrambled to get her… Then the door was open and she had taken off, laughing her little head off.

"We are _so_ dead," Chaviah muttered. By then, the room was filled with upturned chairs and the things from Snape's shelves were scattered on the floor. Ink was everywhere, shattered glass and pickled smelly dead things were all over. Oh, and Draco's sister had taken off to cause more damage to the school.

"Okay, who gave her sugar?!" Hermione snapped.

Kagome asked, "Does it really matter? We should be going after her!"

One Slytherin said, "You go right ahead! I'm not going anywhere near that thing!"

"Fine! I will!" Kagome said. "You start cleaning things up here!"

"Wow, what happened here?" a newcomer's voice asked. Some people shrieked due to their fright. Everyone looked at the door. Anyone who _didn't_ shriek either hid behind something sturdy or else shrieked and then hid. There was the little girl again, giggling in the arms of…Harry Potter? Wait a minute… Harry was beside Blaise, ducking behind a counter. So who was _that_?

"I had _fun_," Shiva giggled.

-

Draco sat nervously in a chair in front of his Godfather's desk. Snape was seated on the edge of the front of his desk, furiously flipping through the pages of whatever it was Kagome had given him. Draco was pretty sure he knew what that information related to, but he really hoped he was wrong.

Finally his Godfather set the papers down on the desk and sneered at him. "For cripes sake, Draconius!" Snape hissed. "Stop flinching! I am not your father! I'm not going to hit you just because I'm displeased; and I am _very_ displeased! Just when were you planning to tell me about this?"

"About what?" Maybe if he feigned ignorance… Even as the thought slipped through his mind, he knew it would never work. Snape was very good at reading people; to him, they were open books. It was how he often caught people cheating. The look on Snape's face proved to Draco his Godfather did not believe Draco didn't know what they were talking about.

Draco _wished_ he didn't know.

Instead of calling Draco on his ignorance, Snape tossed the packet of papers at Draco. Draco picked them up and the first thing he saw was, "Department of International Law," in the upper right corner. The words were all written in Japanese, but someone, Kagome most likely, had written a translation at the bottom of the page that summed up the page.

**_"In regards to the case of Malfoy VS Higurashi, the Department of International Law issues this restraining order against Higurashi, Kagome for the possession, brandishing, and assault of and with a concealed weapon against Malfoy, Draconius."_**

Draco flipped through the packet; there weren't any more English translations, but that hardly mattered to Draco. He could read, write, and speak Japanese fluently. He _had_ gone to a Japanese Primary School after all, and since they spoke Japanese there, he also had to speak it.

The second page was details about the restraining order; things that could or could not be done, how far she had to stay away from him, and how many years the restraint would be upheld if he did not renew it. She was not allowed to write to him or contact him through other people. If she did, it would be considered a violation of the International Law restraining order and she would spend time in jail.

So, then why wasn't she ducking away from him whenever possible? A few words to the Ministry from him and she would be locked away.

He flipped to the next page. That page was a newspaper clipping that talked about their little incident, though it was over-embellished on. Even he would admit that it was a highly inaccurate printing of what happened.

**_"Ten-year-old Higurashi, Kagome and her foster parents were in trial before a panel of judges last Tuesday after she brutally stabbed a fellow student six times at the Magic Academy training grounds and left him to die. The victim, Malfoy, Draconius was flown to St. Mungo's hospital in England for treatment. Higurashi, Kagome will be tried for attempted murder; if convicted, she may face life in prison."_**

Draco didn't know if Kagome had really gone to trial. He knew he hadn't gone to any trial. He also knew she hadn't stabbed him six times; she only stabbed him once, and she didn't leave him to die. She passed out. If her friends hadn't come looking for her, both of them would have bled to death.

He flipped through more of the pages. Most of it was newspaper clippings, proving how that one incident had made her life a living hell. He skimmed them; they all made him look like an innocent bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The last pages were different.

**_"In regards to the case of Malfoy VS Higurashi, the Department of International Law has revoked the restraining order against Higurashi, Kagome. All charges have been dropped by the Department of International Law."_**

Draco figured that was probably why he and Kagome could be in the same room together, but that didn't explain why he wasn't notified. There should have been some sort of missive or letter sent to him, alerting him of the change.

_Maybe there was,_ he thought. His father might have gotten it, and decided Draco didn't need to know. His father censored his mail coming and going, so that wasn't so hard to believe. He turned to the next newspaper clipping. He skimmed it, reading only what stuck out at him.

**_"As per the court ruling, it has been found that Higurashi, Kagome was acting in self defense. Malfoy, Draconius wore a blood seal; when it broke, he lost his temper and attacked her."_**

Draco gulped, not sure he could bear to face his Godfather. He busied his fingers with carefully replacing each piece of paper _just so_ on his lap, until Snape irritably snatched them away. "Look at me!" Snape growled. Draco looked up hesitantly. "When were you going to tell me, Draconius? With your mother in the hospital and your father dead, _I am your caretaker_. By bringing you in, you put me and my family in danger from the Ministry. Harboring something that was supposed to be banished hundreds of years ago will get _me_ exiled, and _you_ beheaded."

"It won't," Draco said, though he wasn't as confident as he sounded. "She won't tell anyone."

"You might think she won't," Snape said, "but _people_ are never reliable!"

"What's the big deal!?" Draco demanded, standing up so fast he hissed as his leg stretched. "Everyone in Slytherin _already_ knows about the blood seal. Over half the people in Slytherin have one! And so what? I'm a pureblooded wizard whether or not I'm a _demon_," he spat the vile word from his mouth. "Does that count for _nothing_? Or can I not call myself a wizard _because_ I'm not human? BECAUSE I LOOK LIKE ONE! I LIVE LIKE ONE! I EAT AND BREATHE AND SLEEP LIKE ONE!"

He could hardly believe he'd screamed that at his Godfather. As his own words settled in, he fell back in his seat. He was raised to be a hypocrite; were muggle-borns not born the same way purebloods were? Did they not live and breathe and sleep and eat just the same as purebloods? Did they not look the same as purebloods?

A very firm voice in his head that almost sounded like his father said, "No, they are not the same. They are worthless, trash, beneath us. We are pure, they are dirt." But there was a very, very tiny voice inside him that rebelled and said, "Yes…yes, yes, yes…" It wasn't a very loud voice, and it was nearly drowned out by the disgust and repulsion of the larger part of him.

In a much softer, more uncertain voice, Draco asked, "…Being what I am doesn't make me special… Being a wizard does…"

"Draco, look at me," Snape told Draco. Draco looked up at his Godfather. He saw a small flicker of a smile on Snape's ordinarily thin lips. "You're probably the first person since James Potter to tell the Dark Lord to 'eat dung and rot in hell'. I don't think being special is an issue."

Draco was silent again for a long moment. He was awaiting judgment from his Godfather. What would happen next?

Snape stood up. The smile was replaced again with his customary scowl. "From now on, you need to learn to control your temper. You will have plenty of practice doing that with Hagrid in detention. You will report to him every night for the next three weeks."

"But, but Shiva," Draco started, shocked that his Godfather would take away his time. "He'll make me go into the Forbidden Forest! Shiva can't go out there!" He practically begged any god who cared to let Snape have a drastic change of heart. He'd rather face down Voldemort than the Forbidden Forest. At least with Voldemort, he knew what he was going to get. No one ever knew what might be lurking just in the next shadow of the Forbidden Forest…

"Find a baby sitter—_not_ me, either. If it were up to me, Shiva would be with my wife. Dumbledore seems to have lost his mind letting you bring that girl here." He went over to his fireplace and tossed something into the flames. Draco realized it was Kagome's papers. He watched as they started to slowly burn up. When they were nothing but ashes, Snape threw some Floo powder on the fire. Green fire burst upward and Snape stuck his head in the fire, talking to someone on the other side.

"Potter, do me a favor and come down," Snape said, confusing Draco. He couldn't hear the other half of the conversation, but a moment later, Snape said, "I have some unfortunate business to attend. I'll need a substitute." Another moment later and Snape pulled his head out of the fire. He brushed himself off and looked at Draco seriously.

"I'll need you to tell me _everything_ that happened. I mean, _everything_."

Draco took a deep breath and started from the beginning. "I'm not really sure why the two of us fought all the time." Yes, he did. He found it amusing to make her mad. But he wasn't going to tell Snape that. "The smallest little detail set her off and then I followed suit. Near the end of Primary school, we both ended up in the same place at once, with no one else around. There was a ten-foot drop near there. She made me angry so I…"

-

The silence was so deafening in the potions classroom as Draco and Snape came out of the office that one could have heard a feather drop if it had fallen. Kagome tried not to look nervous, as did the rest of the class, but all of them were itching to squirm. What if Jesse Potter's cleaning spell didn't work? What if just one thing happened to be out of place, and the potions teacher noticed?

Snape seemed to survey the classroom with a speculative eye and then nod as if everything was indeed in order before sweeping out of the classroom with Jesse Potter. Kagome and the class let out a collective breath before most of them turned to their books. Kagome also turned to hers. If Jesse Potter hadn't come at the precise moment that he had, Kagome figured none of them would escape the hangman's noose.

Little Shiva now sat cheerfully in her seat next to Harry, playing with a strange toy Jesse Potter had transfigured using a quill from Snape's counter at the front of the room. It kept Shiva occupied as she tried to figure out how to get the ball from the center.

There had been a sort of 'mutual agreement' among the class that no one would tell Draco or Snape what had occurred, as it was highly likely that both would go off a high board when they found out for their separate reasons. Jesse Potter had laughed until he cried when Kagome managed to finish the tale of the rampant child, but he had agreed not to tell.

Kagome tried to concentrate on the page about truth serums, but quickly found herself growing detached from what she was attempting to read. Before long, she had her new potions book from Miroku lying open on top of her text book. She skimmed the table of contents as excitement filled her veins. She absolutely _loved_ Inshorn Qurvain's books. She already had books one through eight, and now she had volume nine to add to her collection.

Inshorn Qurvain's books were all about the combination of magic and potions. She had a distinct knack for potions. She'd learned that as she entered Secondary School. She and her friend Miroku were both very good at mixing magic and mixture together to create "fusion-potions". Fusion-potions were the basis of what Kagome wanted to do when she left school. She and Miroku were going to be Fusion Researchers; not only would they make fusion-potions, but they would be able to do research on creating new types of fusion-potions.

With Kagome's unnatural knack for Arcane Magic, and Miroku's exceptional gift at White Magic, they figured they would definitely be able to create some really useful, new potions. Kagome had already made truth serums before. They were boring. She already had three pints of Veritaserum in her trunk. She had no need for a simpler version that could cause irregular bowel problems…

She beamed at the table of contents before flipping to page 248. The book only had one hundred potions in it, but when one combined magic and mixture to create a fusion-potion there was a lot more that went in to making the potion. Everything from room-temperature to the amount of magic in the room had to be specifically monitored. Any fluctuation in the environment could be disastrous not only for the creators of the fusion-potion, but for the potion as well!

Imagine, all that hard work…useless…

She grinned at the chapter heading. Arcane Fusion. Those were her favorite fusion-potions, mostly because she was in her element when she toyed around with Arcane Magic. She could remember how her friends reacted to hearing about her being so good at it. It was an unusual thing to be an Arcane Magic User. Kagome knew most countries, England included, didn't classify magic like her country. Her country split all the different types of magic up into specific categories, realized where people had the most potential and talent, and had them learn within their range of magic.

Arcane Magic Users weren't common. They were actually very _un_common. The Magic Academy didn't even have an Arcane Magic User on staff to teach Kagome when she showed the ability to manipulate Space & Time magic. Kagome ended up spending two full years with Miroku in White Magic User class as the school's headmistress Kaede scoured the country for an Arcane Magic User willing to come teach Kagome. Of course, there _were_ a few scattered about the country, but as a general whole, Arcane Magic Users chose to live hermit lives in the middle of nowhere… though Kagome still wasn't sure why.

Headmistress Kaede hadn't let Kagome down though. Kagome was thirteen when Kaede found someone who would come to the school and teach her. Saya was a ghost who, during life, had used Arcane Magic. He couldn't help her like a living person could've taught her, but he could watch over her and tell her what to do and guide her into doing things right.

She skipped over the beginning tutorial that told newbies the basics of Arcane Magic; she already knew the information, and Inshorn Qurvain always put the basics of each type of magic at the beginning of each chapter in each of his books. She opened to the first potion and nearly _drooled_ on the page in anticipation. "Dark Matter" was the name of the potion.

Oh, she really, really wanted to try it. Even the name sounded mysterious.

A soft something whacked her in the back of the head and then dropped onto her book. Kagome glanced around curiously. It had obviously been levitated to her, but from who? Snape was still not in the room, and now that her brother was there, Shiva was acting like a sweet little girl (which everyone was _well aware_ she was _anything but_ sweet) coloring on a piece of paper. (Jesse had stolen plenty of ink pots for people's use and replaced Snape's store of ink pots with the broken ink pots Shiva had trashed so he would think someone sabotaged his supply).

Harry was half snoozing over his text book, and Kagome's counter-mate and class partner Hermione Granger was writing so much and so fast it was surprising her paper didn't light on fire. No one was paying attention to Kagome, so she wasn't sure who had given her a crumpled piece of paper.

She unfolded it, and the noise of the crackly piece of paper was attention-getting. She got it open as quickly as possible to keep from prolonging the noise. On the inside, she saw perfect penmanship; it wasn't too blocky, and it wasn't too feminine. Draco had signed the note only in his initials.

**_Are you still afraid of heights? – DM_**

Now, what could he want to know that for? Of course she wasn't going to say 'yes' even if she really was still afraid of heights. She'd gotten over that fear after her best friend thought it would be fun to climb a tree with her, then got into a fight with his rival and the two of them left her up in the tree to go fight. Sango and Miroku had been in detention for public "displays of affection", so it was just Kagome left to climb down, or else be stuck up in the tree forever.

**No, I am not. Now don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone. I don't want to get in trouble for passing notes if the teacher comes back in.**

Kagome crumpled the paper back up into a ball and tossed it carelessly over her shoulder. If he got it, that was up to him. She heard it fall on the floor, then a chair squeak as the owner got off it. Within seconds, she heard his quill scratching onto the paper, and she got the paper back again.

With an irritated grumble at how miserable she knew Draco was attempting to make her life, she opened the paper. Curiosity killed cats, she knew, but she was far from a cat. Speaking of cats…she wondered where Kiyoshi was… Probably mouse hunting. Oh, and she had to get in her room still. Who was she supposed to talk to about that problem again?

**_I need you to take my place on the Slytherin Quidditch team. You can use my broom._**

Kagome snorted. As if she'd take his place! Quidditch was for _fun_, played in leisure time. While talking to Harry over the summer, Kagome had learned that Hogwarts had four Quidditch teams that played against each other, and team practices were held regularly to prepare the team for the game. Besides that, she was hoping she might be able to round up a few people who wanted to play Shards with her.

Her answer was one, very simple word. **No.**

She tossed it back to him. He wrote and levitated it back to her.

**_The team needs a seeker; I am usually it, but I have Shiva to take care of this year. If you don't accept the position, I can't guarantee I won't accidentally let something slip… I know a lot about you that I'm sure you don't want people knowing. _**

Kagome glared at the paper, wishing to burn it to ash. It was very true. Kagome was well aware that enemies often knew more about each other than friends. She hated that. But she couldn't let him know he'd gotten under her skin.

She would call him on his bluff… and hope he really was just bluffing.

**I know a few things about you too, Imp, so tread carefully about what you let slip. I can do you more harm than you can do me. **She wasn't lying; she really could do him more harm. She wouldn't, but she could. Still, she didn't want him calling her bluff, so she added after that, **So if you want me to be seeker, you're going to have to pay dearly. An arm and a leg sound sufficient—I want that new broom I saw in Diagon Alley. It was called the Avalanche. **

As Draco read it, she could hear him gasp. It was a brand new model, released only that summer, so she wouldn't be surprised if it cost him half his family fortune or more. When she had seen it, she practically swooned. It was such a gorgeous broom. She only played Quidditch with her friends, so they were still on old fashioned Comet broomsticks that the Magic Academy's recreation room had for student use, but that didn't mean she never dreamed of owning a really cool, fast broom.

Draco never got a chance to respond to her; at that moment, Jesse Potter sauntered back into the room with an air about him that suggested he owned the world. A smug little smile was on his face. He marched to the front of the room, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote, "Professor Potter" on the board.

He grinned at them all then and said, "I will be your substitute teacher for a few weeks, since Professor Grease-head has some personal business to take care of."

Jaws dropped. Kagome wondered if people didn't normally refer to Professor Snape as "Professor Grease-head". Kagome probably wouldn't, in respect for her new friend Chavi (who was Snape's daughter), but the name _did_ sort of fit. The guy was a walking fire hazard, Kagome thought. She glanced at Harry again, wondering if the boy was curious as to whom Jesse Potter was. Harry wasn't half asleep anymore.

"I'm Jesse Potter. You may have heard of me before; I am the big bad of Potter Demon Industries based in Japan. My company makes weapons, including wands, for the Japanese Magical Community. I'm rich, famous, and single—in case any of you care to know." He grinned at them to let the class share the joke, but Kagome wasn't entirely sure Jesse Potter was actually joking. Sure, he sounded like it, but he also seemed sort of… off his rocker, at times.

A hand went up. Jesse Potter looked at the person and said, "Ah! You must be a Longbottom." The boy flushed slightly and slowly lowered his hand. "You look a lot like your dad," Jesse Potter added with a knowing nod of his head, "a good guy if I ever met one, although not too bright. Still… what's your name, boy?"

He responded, "Neville, sir…"

"Ah, Neville! I like you! No one ever calls me sir anymore. It's like…" He made a face, "It's like everyone hates me back home." He wiped away an imaginary tear. Really, Kagome didn't know what to make of Jesse Potter. Neither, it appeared, did the rest of the class. "So, Neville, what do you have to ask me?"

"Um, are you…" His eyes darted from Harry, to Jesse Potter, and back again, though he didn't finish his question. He probably wasn't sure how to. Short of blurting it out, how did one approach the subject of whether or not two nearly identical people were related? Surely it should be obvious, but what if it wasn't?

"Indeed I am! Harry Potter is…" he glanced at Harry, frowned, and then said, "_unfortunately_ related to me. If I had it my way, I'd have nothing to do with the Gryffindor…" A smile spread across his face, though it wasn't a very nice one, "Oh wait… I did have it my way, and I don't have anything to do with Harry Potter. Silly me. How could I forget? But enough of me!" He glanced around the class. "What are you learning this year?"

Hermione Granger raised her hand immediately. Jesse Potter looked at Hermione and nodded at her. Hermione said, "I believe Professor Snape was going to have us make the potion on page eight, and we are also paired up to do a project on Truth Serums."

Jesse grabbed a student's book from the front row and flipped through this. "Well, Snape really has raised the bar in Potions. When I came here, we didn't make truth serums until seventh year." Kagome raised her hand and Jesse Potter gave back the student's book. He looked at her and said, "Yes, Princess?"

Kagome got off her seat and stood beside it as she addressed the figure of authority. What could she say? Old habits died hard. "Don't call me that, and I've already done truth serums. Can my partner and I do something else?"

Jesse Potter bit his lip, attempting to keep from grinning. "I'll call you what I want to, hime-sama." Kagome frowned at him. She didn't really care to have the whole world calling her princess. She was in a whole new country… why couldn't people just drop the formalities? "I'm just a temporary teacher, Miss Higurashi. It's not me you should ask."

"But you just said that Professor Snape is to be gone for a while on personal business." Kagome pointed out. "And he did attempt to pair me with the imp," she jutted her thumb over her shoulder at Draco, "so that I would not be 'hindered in my learning experience'. I've already got three pints of Veritaserum," a rather stunned silence hit the room as everyone stared at her with wide eyes, "so bugging around with Halitaserum would only hinder my learning experience."

Jesse Potter's jaw flapped. "Bloody hell, woman! _Three pints_? What are you going to do with three pints of Veritaserum?"

"Well, I don't have any plans to use it, but I do have it just in case."

"Yeah, just in case you need to question a _country_." Jesse Potter said. "You realize you only need three drops, right?"

"So…can I do something else?" Kagome asked again, hoping to drag the subject away.

Jesse Potter watched her for a very long moment before running a hand through his messy hair. Then he sighed, "Alright, fine. What did you have in mind?"

"Dark Matter," Kagome replied.

Kagome was stunned that people were still present; it was quiet enough that there could have been no one else in the room but her and Jesse Potter. That was surprising on its own, since three-year-olds as scary as Shiva would never have been expected to be so quiet. Of course, she was an entirely different person around her brother.

"That's fusion," Jesse Potter said at last.

"I know. I've done fusion before."

"Who is your partner?" Kagome looked at Hermione, and Hermione raised her hand slightly. Kagome finally noticed that Hermione looked very irritated. Then again, she had looked annoyed from the very get-go, so Kagome figured that might be a permanent look on the girl's face. "What's your name, miss?"

"Hermione Granger, Professor," Hermione stated in a clipped tone of voice. Was she upset?

"And how smart are you, Miss Granger?" he asked. Hermione looked rather affronted at the question. She didn't have to answer. Jesse guessed. "Alright, quills out, everyone. Forget page eight. We're going to learn a bit about fusion." He erased the assignment and his name off the board and began writing with the chalk.

Kagome sat back down and got ready to listen and take notes. She wouldn't claim to know everything there was about fusion-potions. If they already knew all there was to know about fusion, then there would be no real need for Fusion Researchers.

"Fusion is the process of combining spells and potions together. Fusion was first discovered in Japan by Marie Ivan and Henry Potter—_yes_ Mr. Potter, Henry is your ancestor. Put your hand down and go research Genealogy." Kagome turned to look at Harry. He was lowering his hand with an annoyed look on his face, but Jesse Potter hadn't even turned around. How did he know Harry's hand was up?

"Potter was an Auror. He was assigned the mission to find and apprehend Ivan for the death of her husband. Ivan was a medi-witch; she worked with and made potions daily for St. Mungo's. With her disappearance, several rather potent potions had disappeared, as well as a great deal of things from St. Mungo's supply room. Henry trailed her to Japan, catching up to her on May 20th, somewhere around two hundred years ago, though the exact date isn't really important. If you want to know, look it up. I'm not a text book. During their confrontation, Ivan threw an acid based potion at Potter, and he used a spell to try to knock the potion away. The result was an explosion that killed Ivan and burned the flesh completely off of Potter's legs, leaving nothing but scorch-marked bones."

Several students looked very disgusted, and even more shuddered. Kagome looked at Hermione. She looked tight-lipped, but curious. Jesse Potter continued to write, despite the discomfort of some students (who probably didn't want to know more). "Potter was found by some local priests and taken in for treatment. Several years after that, he began researching Fusion though he never really got far in it. He died in an earthquake and he and his research were buried for years until a medical researcher on an excavation trip dug up Potter's research diary and applied Japanese theories with his work and working fusion finally took off."

"Who was the medical researcher, and how long ago was that?" one student asked.

"Does it _look_ like I'm a walking, talking text book?" Jesse Potter asked, turning around to glare at the class. "Shut up and pay a visit to the library if you want information. I'm not going to give you all the answers."

Silence extended for a few minutes. Then Jesse Potter chirped, "_Any_way! Look at the time, its three-thirty already! What time does this class get over?"

"Four," someone offered. Jesse Potter hung his shoulders.

"Okay," Jesse Potter said, "I remember why I didn't become a teacher. Princess, you can do your fusion if Miss Granger wants to. As for the rest of the hour, go to the library and do some research or something, but you're to spend that time _with your partner_." It was a dismissal, but at the very last moment Jesse Potter smirked and said, "I want you and your partners to do a one foot essay on one of the seven types of Fusion by next Monday. I don't care what type you choose, but you may as well use this time to get started."

Kagome heard some dark mutters pass through the other students. She didn't know what the big deal was… Master Saya was always making Kagome do ten foot essays on her work, but he never read them. He always said he did, but she knew the lazy ghost better than that. She still did the work though, just in case he decided to get off his butt and do something.

"Oh," Jesse Potter added with an amused glance at Draco, "and Mr. Malfoy… I believe being partners with the **savior of the wizarding world** will give you sufficient practice at keeping your temper under control, right? I'm not going to hold you to Snape's detentions." The way he drawled the words gave Kagome the impression that he didn't like Harry much… not that anything he'd done so far gave the impression that he _did_ like the boy either…

The grumbling students filed out of the classroom rather grumpily with their partners. Harry and Draco left (both of them looking irritable) with Shiva trailing them. Hermione had packed up and was waiting for Kagome, but Kagome wasn't quite ready to leave yet.

"Are you coming?" Hermione asked snappily.

Kagome ignored Hermione's cold tone and said, "In a minute. I need to talk to Mr. Potter." Kagome waited until the classroom was empty but for her and Hermione before approaching Jesse Potter. He was digging curiously through the papers on Snape's front counter.

Without looking up at her, he asked, "What is it, monster?"

"I was supposed to talk to Professor Snape, I think, about getting my room open. Where did he go?" Kagome asked. She'd just remembered what Blaise had told her. Snape had a master key to all the rooms, as the Head of House for Slytherin.

"What's wrong with your door?" Jesse Potter asked, looking up at her.

"It's locked," Kagome told him.

"Well, that wasn't obvious," he drawled, "I meant, why can't you get your key to work?"

"Because it's locked in my room," was her response.

"Then tap your wand three times on the lock and say your name. The lock should open, but you have to really be quick at turning the handle that way." Jesse Potter told her. "All these newspapers are about you… I didn't realize you made this many headlines."

Kagome ignored his comment about the newspapers. "My wand is locked in my room."

Jesse Potter slumped his shoulders again before looking up at her with an expression of mild disbelief. "I didn't think you could possibly be higher maintenance, but you proved me wrong, monster." He glanced over at her stuff. "Let me guess… your bag is broken too…?" She felt her ears turn red, but she did nod.

"Reparo," he said, aiming the spell at the pile of books and the bag beneath it. The bag fixed itself beneath the pile. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, fluttering his wand a bit. The books levitated and the man used magic to put the books into the bag, levitating the bag over to her. "Let's go then. I've got Snape's master key. Miss Granger, would you please come along? If I felt Miss Higurashi were intelligent enough to find her way to the library without getting lost and dying of starvation, I'd let her go alone, but…"

"Hey!" Kagome pouted, "That's not fair! I have an impeccable sense of direction!"

"Never fails to get you lost, does it?" he teased before actually skipping out of the room.

Kagome grabbed her bookbag out of the air before it fell. "I thought he was supposed to be an adult," she muttered to Hermione as the two of them left the room. "But at least he and Professor Llywellyn would get along great…"

* * *

Thank you so much for all the reviews! This story IS STILL on the 10-review rule list. 

If you leave an anonymous review, please leave me a VALID email to reach you! I tend to get really annoyed when anonymous review emails turn out to be fake.

I hope you liked this chapter!


	23. Best Friend Chatter

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

**2,099 words**

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Chapter 23: Best Friend Chatter

Green had quickly become the color of the night as Hermione followed Professor Potter through the labyrinthine tunnels of Slytherin house. She recalled what Harry and Ron had said about the Slytherin commons back in second year; the picture they had painted for her back then was vague and nondescript. They had made it seem like all there was in the Slytherin common room was a chair for Malfoy and the rest was nothing but blackness surrounding him. 

That was as far from the case as it could possibly be. Gryffindor house was a large tower jutting into the sky, with turrets that were the dorms. Slytherin house was completely opposite. Unlike Griffons which would nest in the sky, serpents made their home in the ground. It was obvious the house was fabricated to symbolize the animal on the banner.

Hermione felt exposed as she walked with Jesse Potter through the crowd of Slytherins in the commons. She, a mudblood, had entered their domain. None of them were familiar to her, but they all leered at her just the same. Kagome ignored them, choosing instead to pay more attention to conversation Jesse Potter provided in what Hermione assumed must be Japanese.

_I know what language I'm going to learn next,_ Hermione thought. She already knew French, Russian (she had a Russian boyfriend during fourth year, and had wanted to bridge the language gap more thoroughly), and obviously English. She couldn't stand not knowing what was being said when she was quite clearly in a good range for eavesdropping.

Soon they were deep in the bowels of the Slytherin house and Hermione wondered if all these twisty serpent like tunnels were leading to some sort of torture chamber that she would never escape. Logically she knew it was unlikely, but the terrified little girl inside her body of logic told her it had to be true. They were going to kill her, and never again would she be forced into those gaudy doll-like outfits at her Grandma's house.

Well, that was sort of a benefit of death, but she would never admit that aloud. She really did love Grandma and Grandpa Granger, however weird they were.

Eventually they stopped walking (Hermione's feet were killing her—she was _so_ glad she was in Gryffindor) and Hermione looked at the door in front of them. Three of the four name plates on the door were broken. One said "Drac—foy", and half of the middle was missing. The one beneath that said "Chaviah Mel" with the rest broken. The fourth said "Tomas Hig" and had no more.

Jesse Potter said some sort of indecipherable thing and Kagome responded with a simple nod of her head. Dang it, what was asked? It was only the first day and Hermione was already frustrated at her own lack of knowledge. Who was this girl, and why was she at Hogwarts? Why would Dumbledore allow her to come?

With a pat on Kagome's head as if she were nothing more than a mere puppy, Jesse Potter stuck a key in one of the locks and opened the door, admitting the trio into the…

Hermione found herself struck with jealousy. A _single bedroom_? Hermione had to share a bedroom with several other girls; Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil both snored like ogres and always kept Hermione up half the night. It was just so unfair!

"Get your key, Miss Higurashi. I want to see it in your hand before I leave you ladies to your work," Jesse Potter said. Kagome crossed the room and grabbed a key from her _desk_. She had her own desk, and a closet, and a larger bed than Hermione's was… Oh, and she had a bookshelf, it just wasn't fair!

"Got it. Thank you very much, Mr. Potter!" Kagome said.

-

Kagome showed Jesse Potter her key and with a nod at her and a half smile, he said, "Then I shall leave you two to work. Take care, Miss Higurashi, Miss Granger." He left the two girls alone, so Kagome turned to Hermione with a bright smile on her face.

"I have books on fusion on my shelf if you want to look at them," Kagome told her.

Hermione stuck her nose up in the air importantly. "We were instructed to go to the library, Miss Higurashi, and that is where we must go." She headed for the door, but Kagome knew letting her go would be a bad idea. Hermione was a Gryffindor, and Kagome had heard enough of the rivalry between her house and Hermione's to know that Hermione would be as safe as a kitten in a starving anaconda's nest if she went out.

"You won't find anything about fusion in the library," Kagome told Hermione. It was probably true enough. If Inshorn Qurvain's books were banned, Kagome could hardly imagine that Glesta Verkrr's book Black Fusion and You; Demolition Based Fusion-potions, or Houjou Kamanaru's book Untraceable and Undetectable Fusion-potions: Secrets the Government Doesn't Want You to Know would be in the library. And if those books were banned, then Yllogly's book Let Me Drink That KILLER Fusion! was probably also banned.

Truly, England banned all the fun stuff… But Kagome wasn't worried. She had friends back home who could get her the books she wanted, and Miroku always bought her a copy of all the fusion related books he bought for himself (mostly so she wouldn't steal his copy), so she had no doubt she would not be going without. 

Hermione paused with her hand on the door handle. She turned to look back at Kagome. "What do you mean?"

Kagome shrugged. "Fusion is a very high level of potion making; most people don't even pick up a fusion book unless they're going into the field of Fusion Research like me." Hermione looked more curious. Kagome went to her trunk and kicked open the lid. She climbed down the ladder into her trunk and shifted through the messy piles of books stacked up in the deep, magically larger-than-it-should-be trunk. "Things like this!" she called up, holding up a thick book for her viewing.

Hermione's head appeared in the hole. Kagome tossed the book up to the girl and she fumbled to catch it, her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe the messy state of Kagome's trunk. "What does this say?" Hermione asked. Kagome wasn't surprised her new partner couldn't read it.

"That book is A Comprehensive History of Fusion by Saya Murasaki. Master Saya has been my magic master for the past three years, so I had to read his book." Kagome scrounged around in the mess on the floor, kicking up gadgets and whosi-whats-its of all sorts, tossing aside the things that weren't what she was trying to find. That was generally why everything belonging to Kagome had some form of a very powerful anti-breaking charm on it. She could be very hard on her things.

"HA! I knew I still had it." She picked up the funny looking goggles and climbed out of trunk.

"What is that?" Hermione asked with a strange look on her face as she peered at the goggles.

"These are translating goggles." Kagome fiddled with the dial on each side of the ridiculous looking goggles. They were currently set at English-to-Japanese, so she switched it around. "My best friend made them last year. He wants to be an inventor, and these were his first success… It's pretty cool, if you ignore the fact that they look like a really bad version of Darth Vadar's mask."

"Did you just say 'Darth Vadar?'" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Yeah, why?" Kagome asked, reaching out and fitting the goggles on the shocked girl's face. She adjusted the straps so the goggles fit tight to Hermione without worry of them slipping.

"As in Star Wars?" Hermione continued.

"Yeah, you know… 'Luuuuke… I am your faaaatherrrr…'" Kagome mimicked. "There, the goggles are on. Just don't wear them too long, because Inuyasha isn't the best at magic. Everything starts going all wonky if you wear them too long. You can sit on my bed and read if you like; I'd rather you didn't take the goggles out of here… Inuyasha's inventions have a tendency to explode."

Kagome turned around as Hermione paled considerably. "Ex…explode?" she asked hesitantly. "Is it safe to wear them?"

"Well, they haven't exploded yet, so yeah." Kagome told her and glanced around her room.

It appeared the house elves had brought her birthday gifts to her room. Her window was fixed neatly to the bare wall near her dresser, in the spot where Draco had a second dresser in his room. The mailbox was also fixed to the wall by the window. The noodle-and-been picture frame and picture from Sango and Shippou was on one of her bedside tables.

Hermione chose to sit down at Kagome's desk; Kagome guessed for a girl who was obviously smart (Kagome could tell those sort of things about people) the lure of new knowledge was too strong to resist. Kagome tossed her bag on the floor and crossed to the window, flinging the curtains open with a bright smile on her face, and then she shrieked.

Hermione looked over at Kagome instantly, trying to figure out what Kagome's problem was. Kagome, on the other hand, stared through the window panes at the sight on the other side with a feeling of confusion and complete irony swirling about in her gut.

She opened the panes on the window—Inuyasha's curtain and the window panes on his end were already open so he would be able to hear her, she hoped. Because she could definitely hear him! "Inuyasha, you idiot, what are you _doing_?" Kagome demanded in a high-pitched voice.

Inuyasha and Kouga both turned as bright red as Inuyasha's haori, and they threw themselves away from each other, looking like guilty children caught with their hands in the cookies. "Uh, er, um," Inuyasha stammered intelligently.

Kouga blushed, "It's not, well, not really that!"

"Oh yes it is!" Kagome told them. "You aren't going to try telling me you two weren't just… Oh, good heavens, I should have seen this one coming!" Kagome threw her hands up in the air and sighed. Then she smiled and thought back to the very first day she met them on the train to the Magic Academy. They were instantly something back then, too.

"Er… 'Gome?" Inuyasha ventured, moving closer to the window.

She didn't make him attempt at denying the scene any further. Sango had indeed predicted there was something wrong with Inuyasha. She couldn't have been more right in any case. Kagome puffed up her chest in a very Inuyasha-like manner and gave Kouga a _mean-glare_. "Kouga, if you hurt him, you'll have to answer to _me!_ Got it?"

Kouga stalked forward and grinned, tugging on Inuyasha's ear roughly. "Ow! The hell, you jackass! Leave the ears _alone_! How many times do I have to tell you? They're really sensitive!" The blue-eyed wolf demon obviously didn't care.

"Hey! Kouga, I'm warning you!" Kagome put a hand to the window. It looked like her hand would enter her best friend's room, but instead it just hit stone wall. Dang it, that would have been nice. She could've just crawled right into Japan otherwise.

"You're on the other side of the world. If I want to kick my…my…" he blushed deeply and stopped talking. Inuyasha blushed ten times worse.

"_Boy_friend," Kagome offered. "That's what you want to say, right?"

Kouga gulped, but he nodded. Kagome guessed the 'togetherness' was as new for them as it was for her, so at least she didn't feel like she missed out too much. Inuyasha leaned on the window sill, so close Kagome almost expected him to pop in for a visit, except he didn't. "Kagome, please don't tell anyone yet…" Inuyasha pleaded. "It just sort of happened!"

Kagome smiled at her friend. "My lips are sealed," she promised. Inuyasha then looked over Kagome's shoulder and noticed Hermione.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"Hermione Granger," Kagome replied. "She's my partner for a class called Potions. And don't change the subject. You two are involved! I want details."

Inuyasha and Kouga glanced at Kagome with equally dry looks on their faces. "Details?" Kouga asked.

"What _are_ you, a _girl_?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him, "I'm so glad you noticed." She said. "And after all these years, I thought I was the one with a sexuality complex, you know, since I was attracted to guys and all."

* * *

Thank you so much for all the reviews! This story IS STILL on the 10-review rule list.

If you leave an anonymous review, please leave me a VALID email to reach you! I tend to get really annoyed when anonymous review emails turn out to be fake.

I hope you liked this chapter! It isn't as long as the last one, but I like it anyway.


	24. Cashing in the Paranoia Voucher

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!  
_Posted: April 1st, 2008

**1,143 words**

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Chapter 24: Cashing in the Paranoia Voucher

While Hermione was making quick progress on her report for Mr. Potter, elsewhere in the castle Harry was still trying to find any information at all on Fusion and he wasn't having any luck at all. Draco clearly wasn't having much luck either but that may have been due to the fact that his loud little sister had gotten him kicked out of the library, leaving Harry alone to scrounge through each and every book on every single shelf of the library.

Harry silently blamed Draco for getting kicked out, and decided he wasn't going to share any information he happened to find with Draco. At some point, he'd even stopped taking books back to his table and simply hung out in between the shelves, pulling down books and skimming through them.

Since he had no other homework to do, Harry felt he might as well get Mr. Potter's assignment out of the way. Mr. Potter was a great curiosity to Harry. He kept trying to figure out how he could be related to Mr. Potter. No one had ever mentioned his father might have living relatives, and certainly no one ever mentioned Mr. Potter in particular.

It only stood to reason that Mr. Potter had to be somehow related to James. Harry thought since no one mentioned Mr. Potter, he was probably a cousin many times removed. But then again, Mr. Potter looked unmistakably like the pictures of Harry's smiling father. If Harry didn't know for certain his father was dead, he might believe Mr. Potter was really James.

And of course, then Harry had to wonder why this unknown relation of his hated him so much when Harry never knew the guy existed. It was clear to Harry that Mr. Potter was disgusted by the 'savior of the wizarding world' for some reason, though the reason eluded him. He really wanted to know what he'd done wrong.

"Ugh, I broke a nail!" he heard Pansy half-shriek from the next aisle over. He almost laughed and mentally thanked Merlin Hermione wasn't like Pansy. "Blaisey, this is so stupid! I don't know who this Jesse Potter thinks he is…" she whined. Harry's attention was perked but Blaise spoke too quiet for Harry to hear. He moved further down the aisle toward their voices.

"—to Japan."

"You mean he was a—" Pansy began before her voice abruptly cut off. She continued, "That would explain why he hates Potter." Harry's mind filled in the blanks. _He was a servant of Voldemort. After Voldemort's downfall fifteen years ago, he moved to Japan. He was a Death Eater._

Harry shook his head. He was really cashing in his paranoia voucher, wasn't he? Really, his mind was beginning to go too far. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't let a Death Eater into the school… but then Harry thought about Snape and supposed it made sense why he might never have heard about Jesse Potter. If he was a Death Eater, people might want to avoid mentioning him.

Pansy and Blaise could then be heard walking away, and Harry again tried to focus on finding information for his report. 'If you want information, research Genealogy,' Mr. Potter had said. Harry wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it sooner. After all, hadn't his ancestor been the first one to discover Fusion?

Dinner came and went, and Harry missed it. Madam Pince came and kicked him out of the library when it got to be very late. He slumped back to Gryffindor tower and eased himself into his bed, still with no information on Fusion, _or_ on Henry Potter that hadn't been given him.

He felt like he had just closed his eyes by the time he woke up. Ron was, surprisingly enough, already up. It usually took a smelly sock to wake Ron up. Ron was getting himself dressed. One thing hadn't changed: Ron looked like the dead walking when he just woke up. Harry might've been suspicious if Ron wasn't that way.

"G'mornin' Harry…" Ron said sleepily as his fingers tied the laces of his trainers together without Ron realizing what he was doing.

"Morning Ron," Harry said. "You're tying your shoes together."

"Tha's nice. I don' like tha' Slytherin witch." He got up and attempted to walk to his bag, but tripped on his laces. "Din't know th' wall was so close," Ron muttered.

"You're on the floor." Harry pointed out as he got himself undressed (he was still wearing his robes from the day before) and then got dressed again in clean clothes.

"Tha's so nice…" Ron said and pushed himself up.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked.

"'S'that Slytherin witch. Cast a spell on me las' nigh', she did. Spell won't let me sleep past six, an' if I try to, I get shocked. Gots to see Hermione for a counter spell." He tripped to the stairs and practically rolled down them to the common room while Harry shook his head.

Harry finished getting himself ready, even though his bed was calling out his name. He got downstairs just in time to see Ron slump into a seat and then shoot back up with wide, bloodshot eyes as if he'd been electrocuted. "I'm up, I'm up!" the boy cried. The few people who were awake glanced at Ron in confusion and semi-amusement.

A few minutes later, Lavender Brown came trouncing down the stairs. Ron darted for her and grabbed her shoulders in a panicked frenzy (to which Lavender looked ready to scream 'rape') and he asked, "Is 'Mione up there? Can you please go get her?"

"Ugh, get off me!" Lavender Brown made a face and pulled away from Ron. "She isn't even up there. The bookworm probably already went to class."

After a few encouraging words, Harry recommended they head to breakfast. He assured Ron Hermione wouldn't want to skip breakfast and so they went. Even a hearty meal wasn't waking Ron up, so Harry asked, "What's wrong?"

"Sleepy," was the response. "Melody kept me up all night writing the report for potions, plus she cast this stupid spell on me. I think it was five thirty this morning when I got into bed."

"And Filch didn't bother you?"

Ron shook his head. "He tried, but I guess Filch is Melody's Godfather. Though it beats me why anyone in their right mind would make _Filch_ their child's Godfather…"  
Harry looked around the breakfast table for Hermione but she wasn't there. Their first class of the day was Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. When Ron and Harry showed up, Hermione was already there, pleading with Hagrid to teach mild-mannered animals. She didn't appear to be doing a very convincing job.

If it weren't for the fact that Harry didn't want to hurt Hagrid's feelings, Harry wouldn't still be taking Care of Magical Creatures.

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**The Greatest HP Story Ever Written was previously posted here as an April Fools ending to the story. Go to my profile if you would like to read it. It is now posted separately.**


	25. Professor Hagrid who?

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Dude, where did my disclaimer go?!_

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Chapter 25: Professor Hagrid Who?

If it weren't for the fact that Harry didn't want to hurt Hagrid's feelings, Harry wouldn't still be taking Care of Magical Creatures.

xXx

Kagome groaned as she got out of bed. The previous evening had been really nice, and very much what she needed. Even though she didn't get to see all of her friends, it was still very nice to talk to Kouga and Inuyasha at least. And it was a very big shock to find out they were 'together'.

Still, big shock or not they made a sweet couple. She could see they were having trouble figuring things out between themselves. Both boys had very dominating personalities. They were both head-strong. But it was easy to see where their rivalry for one another had transformed into something completely different.

She'd been mildly affronted to hear Inuyasha wouldn't have told her about it, except she'd accidentally 'walked in' on it, so to say. She was glad she knew, but she still had to give Inuyasha 'the talk' he wouldn't get from anyone else, since currently no one else apparently knew. Kagome wasn't sure how Inuyasha kept the information from his father though. King Inutaishou was _very_ involved in his children's lives.

Kagome glanced at the window. As Inuyasha had promised, his curtain was to remain open. She'd left her curtain open despite Sesshoumaru's warning to close it when not immediately in use. She could see Inuyasha's bed where her best friend had fallen asleep in his boxers. She reached into her closet and pulled out an altered Hogwarts uniform.

Kagome just hoped Inuyasha and Kouga didn't accidentally ruin what they had going for them. They could both be very hot-headed and quick acting, and neither really thought about the things they did or said before doing or saying them. It wouldn't take much for their tentative exploratory relationship to crack.

She pulled on the pleated skirt and heard Inuyasha call out, "Those Europeans have crappy uniforms."

She blushed slightly and held her blouse to her mostly exposed chest. "Hey, Inuyasha! What are you doing, watching a lady dress?" she yelled as he sat up in his bed and gave her a queer look.

"I'm gay, remember? Besides, I already know what you got to offer and it ain't enough to turn me on anyway," he added as a joke. "So who gave you the idea you was a lady?"

"Really, Inuyasha!" Kagome huffed, but she knew he had her there. If she thought about it, Inuyasha had seen her body on several occasions. They were all accidental as he walked in on her in the bathroom at her house (the first time was when she was fourteen and she slipped in the shower—Inuyasha had broken down the door when she didn't answer). And then she did just find out he was gay, so that was true… it was hard to deny the truth of that when she saw him in a messy battle of the tongues with Kouga.

Inuyasha grinned at her, "You gonna get dressed or stand there googly-eyed at my chest like ya do to my idiot half-brother?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, excuse me, Inuyasha. You being gay is still hard for me to picture, because last summer you were vying for Kikyou-san's attention!"

Inuyasha laughed, "Yeah, well, she's _clearly_ off-limits now."

"Why?" Kagome asked.

"Don't you know?" Kagome shook her head and turned her back to Inuyasha before setting down her blouse and pulling on the undershirt. With that on, she felt less revealed and she was able to finish dressing. She might have closed the curtain, except that would cut off their connection and she would rather talk to him. "She's engaged, and unlike you, she's a _real_ woman."

Kagome spun around to face her annoying best friend, glaring at him as she buttoned up her blouse and tucked it in the skirt. "I am too a real woman!"

"If you say so," he smirked. She pulled her black knee-high socks on and then got her shoes on.

"So who is the lucky guy?" Kagome asked. "She didn't tell me when I saw her."

"Dad thought Sesshoumaru needed a good _human_ woman to mate, and Sesshoumaru hasn't got any interest in finding his own mate anyway." Inuyasha shrugged. "They'll make a very… er… polite match." Kagome blinked and tried to wrap her mind around the notion of Sesshoumaru and Kikyou. "The most exciting conversation I heard them talk about was the weather, and their kids will be born lacking any expression to their features and their kids cries will even be monotone."

Kagome ran her brush hastily through her hair and then tossed it up into a bun. Her mirror image ended up sloppier than if she'd just went out in her pajamas but she lacked the desire to care. Maybe that was what Inuyasha was talking about? She didn't really care about her own appearance that much, but Kikyou did.

"Well, it's a good thing you're gay or else the world would have to suffer _your_ offspring too." She teased him warmly. He made a face at her and she grabbed up her wand, her bedroom key, and her school bag filled with the things she'd need for class that day. Then she giggled, "And at least I'm saved from Kouga's offspring. I don't even want to _know_ what they'd turn out like."

Inuyasha shuddered. "Bah! Don't give me such nightmares," he said. "One Kouga is enough."

"You're not throwing in the towel already, are you?" she laughed again and waved to him. "I've got to go learn about magical creatures now, but you have a good first day!"

"Magical creatures?" he questioned.

She shrugged as she walked to the door. "It's probably some fancy coat who'll tell me all about pixies. I expect I'll have to do some serious researching in my free time if I want to learn anything here."

Inuyasha looked at her sympathetically. "I'd be there to amuse you if I could, but dad said I don't know English well enough to transfer."

"Then your dad must not be aware of your atrocious English-speaking skills," Kagome said, "because you only know two words." He flushed. "Work hard, 'Yasha. Maybe you can come here next year with me."

Inuyasha scowled slightly, "Donno why you can't just come home."

"I have to be where my Guardian is… you know that."

He scoffed but then waved her off. "Have fun learning about dust bunnies… or did they ban those over there too?"

"I'm not sure," she opened the door with a grin. "I'll find out and get back to you on that one."

She found her new friends Blaise and Chavi in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Malfoy was not present, nor had he been at any of the meals the day before. Chavi had saved her a seat so Kagome joined them with a warm smile. "Good morning," she told them.

"I thought you hated mornings," Chavi asked, "you told me you did yesterday."

"It's hard to hate a day when I got to talk to my best friend first thing. He really is the greatest. I just love his window!" Kagome looked over the table of breakfast foods before decisively scooping some of the nearby (and untouched) oatmeal onto her plate.

When she began to eat the plain oatmeal, Blaise shuddered. "I can't believe you're eating that stuff…"

She looked up at the dark skinned man and asked, "Why?"

"It's not real food."

"Sure it is," Kagome said, scooping up a healthy glop of the gooey oats and licking it off her spoon.

"It's got to be poison," Blaise insisted. "I'd bet anything the house elves make it in hopes that us people will eat it and die."

Chavi rolled her eyes. "There you have it," she said, "now you're getting to see Blaise's ultra paranoid side."

Kagome glanced at Blaise thoughtfully and then said, "You're not human, are you?" The juice he was drinking came out of his nose and he coughed to clear out his lungs. He did share an awkward glance with Chavi… an awkward, and _nervous_ glance.

"Why would you ask something like that?" Chavi asked Kagome in a sharp tone of voice.

Kagome shrugged and licked her spoon clean again and scooped up some more oatmeal. "My best friend is a half-breed dog demon, my best friend's boyfriend is a purebred wolf demon," oops, well so much for keeping Inuyasha's secret… "my legal guardian is a purebred dog demon, and a purebred fox demon wants to adopt me as his mother." They looked a little startled so she barreled on. "My herbalist tutor at the Magic Academy was a half-breed horse demon, my history teacher was a flea demon, my Magic Master was a dog demon—or at least he was in life anyway, and most of my roommates were a demon of some kind. After a while, you start noticing the subtle differences between human and not."

Blaise looked uncomfortable for a moment as he wiped his nose on a napkin. Then she realized what the problem was. "Oh, don't worry. I won't tattle or anything. But what are you? Purebred?"

He stared down at his plate quietly as if wishing he were anywhere but present. Chavi leaned over and whispered in her hear, "He's a purebred, but his mother had eight partners at the time of his conception so he doesn't know who his father is. It's a sore spot for him."

Kagome found herself smiling sympathetically at Blaise. He was kind of like her then. She didn't know who her real father was either. But she told Blaise what her foster mother often told her, "The one who conceived you doesn't matter. It's the one who cared for you, loved you, and raised you as their own who does." Kagome grinned goofily then before teasing him, "Besides! Purebreds are just _so_ good looking!"

After that, Blaise was eager to smile again. "Yes, purebreds really _are_ good looking. Myself especially." He stroked his chin and his ego simultaneously. Kagome thought that took exceptional skill to do. He then looked at her and asked a little more seriously, "Are all Japanese women like you? Because if so, I think I might relocate."

Kagome laughed, "If only I could get my best friend to think like you. He won't admit I'm a woman."

A loud bell rang and Kagome, still not used to the bell, looked around. Chavi said, "Time for first period." She made a face in disgust, "Can't say I much like the class, but daddy forbade me from taking it when it was first offered and now I have to continue it or risk him thinking he was right."

Kagome giggled as Blaise smirked. "Fun class though." Blaise said. "The professor is a moron and Drake's running commentary of the class is hilarious."

Kagome let her new friends lead her toward the exit of the Great Hall and outside. As they walked across the grounds, Kagome glanced around her. Pansy was hurrying toward them with a gaggle of giggling girls. Kagome still wasn't sure about Pansy. She seemed nice enough, but at the same time Kagome didn't have that nearly instant connection like she did with Chavi and Blaise.

"Hey, Pan-pan," Chavi said teasingly. Pansy made a face.

Blaise grinned, "Aw, Pan-pan, don't you 'wike da widdle kiddy-name' Shiva gave you?"

Still making a disgusted face, Pansy shook her head. "No."

Kagome knew when they had reached their destination. The massive man standing next to what appeared to be a giant privacy fence was clearly not all human. Kagome was amazed, and it must have showed on her face because Blaise said, "Yeah, that's the professor. Stupid looking isn't he?"

"Hardly!" Kagome gasped, and all the Slytherins around her glanced at her like she was crazy. "He doesn't look anything like I was thinking!"

"He's half-giant, Kagome," Blaise pointed out to her.

"So?" Kagome wasn't sure why it made a difference if he was half-giant or all banana. It _did_ make a difference that he _clearly was not_ a fancy coat big-wig. A wide smile spread across her face and she unconsciously moved a bit faster. He looked like a kindly spirit, but at the same time he had a sparkle of recklessness in his eyes that just might make the class interesting.

A few Gryffindors were gathering near the small hut. Kagome noticed all the large wooden crates around the place and wondered what they were going to be learning about. It certainly didn't look like dust bunnies—or else those were some massive bunnies.

"Great," Chavi sighed. "I wonder what sort of deadly creature it is this time…"

Pansy shuddered, "I hope it's not those ugly Blast Ended Skrewts again!"

"I wouldn't mind the Skrewts again," Blaise said. "It's the hippogriffs I don't want to repeat. I gave my Skrewt to Mrs. Malfoy." He added to Kagome. "Drake's mom has a menagerie, and she has all kinds of magical creatures."

Chavi made a face. "If you can help it, Kagome, _never_ meet Drake's mom. She'd take you to see her menagerie and some of the creatures she has—well, you're just better off not meeting her."

Pansy noticed Draco nearby with Shiva and shuddered slightly. She whispered in an undertone, "I'll take the menagerie _any_ day over _her_." She jutted her chin at little Shiva.

Kagome couldn't help but giggle.

A few minutes passed with minor chatter. The Slytherins around Kagome were trying to guess what was in the crates; she was equally curious but if she had to guess she would say it was something canine because the Shikon no Tama was very warm against her skin—unnaturally so—as it reacted to the presence of canines.

More Slytherins and Gryffindors began to show up then. Harry and his friend Ron were among the numbers of Gryffindors. She smiled at him in greeting and he grinned back.

Finally the large professor finished his conversation with the bushy haired Hermione. His eyes searched them all and landed on her. He beamed at her. "Aye, I'm Hagrid, ya professor," he said to her. "'S'okay if ya cannae keep up. Jus' ask if yeh got a question, 'kay?"

Kagome nodded, though she doubted she'd have any difficulty keeping up. She was already aware that some of her classes would include reviewing things she'd already learned. Still, the professor did seem very nice.

The professor rubbed his giant hands on his oversized coat and looked around the group of students with an enthusiastic expression on his face. "Well, ya know, not all th' time we get a student from th' Magic Academy, an' all… So I was thinkin' we migh' do a special lesson t' get our year started!"

Kagome watched as the majority of the students began to squirm as if the word 'special' was a cue for unease. She could feel a wide grin cross her face. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad year after all…

The professor wrenched the top of one of the crates off and instantly the barking began. The professor reached in, then yelped and pulled out his hand as three fingers were bleeding rather profusely. "'S'okay," Hagrid said to them all as he wrapped a dirty kerchief around the bites and the students looked apprehensive. He beamed at them all as the yipping of three animals began to emit from the crate. "They're jus' excited."

"Oh, _wonderful_," Draco drawled. "I wonder what these creatures are like _angry_."

The professor quickly reached in and pulled out a 'small' animal about the size of a full-grown cat. It was recognizably a puppy, but it had three heads. The vicious looking puppy was hardly excited; it was squirming to get free and all three heads looked ready to tear Hagrid to shreds. "We'll be learnin' 'bout Cerberus pups!" he said. "So's if yeh'll jus' set off in threes, yeh can choose a crate an' we'll get started."

As people began obviously choosing their own partners (and looking green) the professor set the mad Cerberus back in the crate. Hagrid then stood up and took out a roll of parchment. "I got all th' groups righ' here. 'Mione, Neville, hope yeh don't mind bu' yeh with Malfoy," he began apologetically. He then continued down the list; Kagome listened for her group already excited to begin. Finally it was called. "Miss Hig'rishi, yeh'll be with Ron an' Harry."

Kagome was glad to be paired up with Harry. However… Hermione didn't appear too happy to be paired with Draco. Kagome could understand the feeling. She wouldn't like to be in Hermione's shoes at that moment.

Still, she approached Harry and Ron cheerfully and Harry introduced her to Ron Weasley, George and Fred's younger brother. With introductions out of the way, they followed Hagrid's instructions and went to stand by one of the large crates, claiming the three-headed dog inside as theirs.

Soon Hagrid was instructing them, saying the pups were too 'rambunctious' to handle without calming them first, so they would have to figure out what they could do to calm the pups down before they could do any raising or studying of the pups. Hagrid said each Cerberus would have a different way they liked to be calmed down, and so he said they didn't need to get worked up if it took several weeks before they could begin anything. He also said until they found out how to calm their Cerberus, Hagrid would make sure the pups were fed, but once they figured it out they would have to do it themselves.

Kagome really didn't want anyone to know about the Shikon or why people called her the 'Dog Princess', so she was careful to make sure the Shikon's power was repressed as much as possible. She then spent the rest of the class with the two boys brainstorming ideas they might be able to try to calm their Cerberus down. Harry and Ron's first suggestion was to try playing music and see if that worked, so they had Hagrid crank off the top of the box. None of them had any instruments, so Ron attempted to whistle a tune, Harry tried humming, and Kagome sang a soft lullaby.

They soon found out that attempts to calm the Cerberus down that failed served only to make the beast more violent. It was really a good thing the three headed dog was still a pup…

xXx

Throughout the week, rumors had been flying around about the two new teachers for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the class itself. Some people who had the class liked it but hated the teachers, and the other half hated the class but adored the teachers. Basically it seemed as though they would have it one way or another—they wouldn't like or hate both.

And, seeing as most of the students who hated the class but liked the teachers were the giggling girls and hormonal boys, Harry guessed he was about to enter a class and hate the teachers since he wasn't usually prone to the whole 'falling for my teacher' charade.

There was a noticeable change in the scheduling to accommodate for D.A.D.A. class, at least for the sixth and seventh years. Sixth and seventh years had an entire day for the class rather than just two hours a week.

It really made Harry wonder what the new teachers would teach them. He tried to ask a few fifth years what they were learning, but all he got as a response was, "Oh… pain…" before one of the fifth years fell asleep at the dinner table.

When he tried to ask a seventh year what they were learning, the older boy had panicked and grabbed Harry by the collar, screaming, "Death, Potter! They're killing us all! It's a conspiracy, help us, you have to save us!"

Thoroughly ill-at-ease, Harry could only watch as the student was escorted to the infirmary by Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall. It really wasn't a great comfort to find out later that day that the poor seventh year had been escorted out of Hogwart's to—rumor had it—be admitted into St. Mungo's. Harry had that information straight from Hermione, who, although she rarely listened to talk and rumors, had heard it from Kagome in the girl's lavatory.

"I can't believe that Slytherin!" Hermione vented after she'd completely minced a mince-meat pie with her fork six times over. "Harry, you might be fooled by her, but I'm not! Can you believe it? She said that!"

At the time, Harry hadn't been entirely certain what Hermione was even talking about. All he knew was that it had something to do with Kagome, though that was hardly surprising as Hermione had found something or other to gripe about the new transfer all week. Hermione was convinced that Kagome was evil incarnate and should be arrested and taken to Azkaban, however impossible such an act may be as Voldemort was likely to get the Dementors to join his motley crew of cowardly murderers.

Harry had been of the mind to just let Hermione rant whatever issues she had out of her system and completely ignore her while pretending to be concerned and listening (he was getting good at it—he did have Snape as a teacher for several years after all and pretending was an art form in that class due to Snape's hawk-like vision) but Ron had to ask, "Who said what, 'Mione?"

So Hermione burst into her tirade. "That transfer, Ronald!" She sniffed importantly and relayed all that she heard in the bathroom, for apparently the second time (Harry must have missed the first time), "I told you. I was in the washroom when Melody, Parkinson, Higurashi, and a gang of other Slytherin girls came in talking. They said that Pete Pipper from Hufflepuff, the seventh year prefect, was removed from Hogwart's to St. Mungo's."

"Pete Pipper?" Ron asked with a mouth full. He looked at Harry. "Isn't that the guy who McGonagall took to Pomfrey after you asked what D.A.D.A. was like?"

Harry could only nod as Hermione launched straight back into the story. "Anyway, Parkinson said that Pipper went insane. Melody said she wasn't surprised after watching Pipper eat sixty-eight pickled peppers in a contest last summer. I'm not sure who it was, but another of the Slytherins said Pipper must have been crazy already to do that, and then they asked Higurashi what she thought."

Harry actually paid more attention at that point. Kagome's own words coming from Hermione's mouth, with Harry not anywhere near for Kagome to attempt to impress… He might be able to get more of a feel of whether or not she was trying to play into his good favor. "Well?" Harry urged his friend who had stopped to stab a few more times at her terrorized pie.

"Higurashi said, and I quote, 'If one cannot handle the heat, then one does not belong in the fire pit. Simple as that.' And then, of course you can guess what happened next!" Hermione steamed, venting more of her frustration on the mess that used to be a piece of pie. Harry and Ron smartly did not attempt to guess, knowing if they guessed wrong they would be in for hell. "She was praised for her response! Can you believe the nerve of those Slytherins?"

Hermione then huffed as Malfoy came crossing over to their table with his adorably frightening little sister skipping along beside him holding a stuffed serpent. "And don't even get me started on how unfair things are with the new merging of classes!" Hermione snapped viciously, though she kept her voice low enough that Malfoy wouldn't hear her complaint.

Malfoy came to stand behind Hermione, looking far less than pleased. "Granger, I believe we had an arrangement to meet in the library at six thirty." Ah, yes, Harry had wondered briefly about when Hermione planned on heading over to the library; she and Neville were to meet Malfoy (at Hermione's insistence) to study up on ways to calm down a Cerberus.

It appeared simple trial and error with Neville and Malfoy in the group was a bad idea, because Neville nearly got his hand ripped off on Tuesday, and Malfoy needed stitches in his right forearm. Malfoy was currently wearing a sling, though at least that injury was quite real whereas the incident with the hippogriff was merely a scratch played up. And because the Cerberus Hermione's group chose had poisonous saliva, Malfoy wasn't able to heal the wound with any of Pomfrey's nasty healing concoctions so he had to heal the regular way and take an anti-venom potion once an hour until Pomfrey said he could stop.

Harry found Malfoy's pain amusing… or at least slightly humoring.

"Yes, well, unfortunately some of us do require food and socializing at meal-times." Hermione snapped, proving that she too had noticed how Malfoy was constantly absent at every meal except the back-to-school banquet.

"Is that why you have a textbook propped on the bowl of potatoes?" Malfoy sneered. "Because you have no friends?"

It only took a second for Harry, Ron, and several other Gryffindors to get to their feet and glare at Malfoy. Harry snapped, "Why don't you just back off, Malfoy? It's bad enough we're all stuck with you in our classes; we don't need you spoiling our appetites with your stench."

Of course, the little Slytherin-in-training then sniffed her brother's leg and said, "Dee-dee smells like…" again she sniffed. "…flowers. He's not stinky!" Her cute button nose crinkled. "You smell like poo-poo though."

Malfoy at least had the decency to wince. "Spoken with such eloquence…" he muttered, probably not expecting to be heard. Then he reached down and scooped the girl up in his left arm, though it appeared to hurt him as she caused more weight on his left leg. "Look, Granger, I don't like this da—this project any more than you do, and the arrangements are even less favorable to me. The sooner we can get this done, the sooner I can get Shiva to bed."

Hermione scowled and waved off the support of the other Gryffindors with a smile and a thanks before accepting a napkin full of rolls from Ginny.

* * *

**The Greatest HP Story Ever Written was previously posted as an April Fools ending to the story. Go to my profile if you would like to read it. It is now posted separately. I can't believe you guys fell for it...**

**Well, here's another one, figured I'd let you knowI'm alive even though I wanted more here. Thanks for reviewing!**


	26. Mana Defense

Title: VD  
Author: TK

Disclaimer: Yeah...

Chapter 26: Mana Defense

Thursday dawned early for Harry… too early in his opinion. He yawned, knowing he wouldn't be so tired if that crazy jester-professor hadn't decided to hold class at four AM… of course, everyone else pretty much slept in Professor Llywellyn's classroom, but Harry couldn't bring himself to do it even though their insane teacher skipped his own class (or so it seemed).

With Thursday came an irate Hermione. No one blamed her for being angry; she was stuck with all sorts of Slytherins for class projects (mainly Kagome in Potions, Malfoy in Care of Magical Creatures, and Pansy Parkinson and Kyle Marcus in Ancient Runes) but Ron and Harry avoided her like the plague all Thursday. Harry felt bad for her, almost enough to offer to switch places with her in Care of Magical Creatures—at least until he recalled who he was paired with in Potions.

The greatly-anticipated class had come at last on Friday. Everyone was excited for the class just as everyone was certain they would have a new teacher next year. It wasn't for nothing that the D.A.D.A. position was cursed. Some higher form seemed adamant about making sure Hogwarts students only got a half education in defense.

However, before they could go to D.A.D.A. they had to go to Etiquette with the insane Professor Jester. There was no one who could explain to Harry the logic behind having an etiquette class at four a.m. when no one would be awake to remember what they were learning.

And what was even more confusing was that only those in Harry's class were taking it at all. The fact that their teacher didn't show for his own class made Harry positive it was just a joke.

Still, Llywellyn unnerved Harry so the boy-who-lived made sure he was up at three AM on Friday, making his way with his two best mates toward the path that led straight to Llywellyn's tree house.

The path was marked with lanterns that would light whenever someone was within range of it. Ron was skittish as they walked, his eyes darting everywhere for spiders. Hermione was still snappish Friday morning, and had her lips jammed shut tight.

Harry felt nothing at being in the forest, but he chalked it off as that Gryffindor Idiocy trait…

How much good would it do him, he wondered, to be among the bravest of the Gryffindors? His Godfather had been so brave he stupidly got himself killed. The negative thoughts came from being tired, he knew, but he couldn't imagine how he would feel after week two. Or after Quidditch practices started up. On Monday, Angelina's plans had been to start Quidditch practice on Saturday. Last night, though, the seventh year had returned from her D.A.D.A. class crying and told Harry she was never going to get on a broom again.

Harry just didn't understand what was going through the students. No one would say what D.A.D.A. was like. No one would tell Harry what they did in class, what they were being taught or anything. Hermione was nearly tearing her hair out because the book list didn't give her anything to study to get ahead of the class. Apparently they were going to be bookless.

They entered the tree house through the trap door and sat down by Neville on a large seat that wasn't underneath a door that would randomly spew on them. The nervous, yet stupidly-brave Gryffindor smiled sleepily at them.

"Hello Harry, Hermione, Ron," Neville greeted them.

"Good morning, Neville," Hermione said in a slightly clipped tone, with a glare on her face that burned holes in the giant green seat that the Slytherins were lounging upon. Kagome and her cat—it was strange how that cat was allowed out of the Slytherin house since no one else's cats were around—sat at one end, Zabini was next to her leaning on Melody's shoulder half-asleep, and on the other end was Malfoy with books sprawled across his lap. If Harry didn't know better, he would say Malfoy was working on three homework assignments simultaneously.

But that would be silly… Not even Hermione could do that.

"Mornin' Neville," Ron said with a yawn.

Harry just nodded in greeting and then turned his thoughts inward. Kagome had done what nothing else had managed; she gave him something to brood over other than his dead Godfather. But things just weren't making sense lately.

Hell, not only were things not making sense, but they were bashing his brain with constant migraines. First Kagome came into his life. He still didn't really know who she was, just that she could be controlled by a Dark Magic bobble. Kagome seemed alright enough, but there was just so much about her that was unknown.

Then there was his wand. It broke, but someone gave him a new one. Moreover, someone used the guts of his old wand and made the new one with them. Dumbledore knew who did it, but the old wizard was as secretive as ever. Harry wanted to know who gave him the wand. He could literally feel his wand humming with the desire to be used whenever he was near it; his old wand would hum when he touched it, and this was the same only ten times more powerful of a feeling.

Kreacher's words and Sirius's last letter to Harry confused Harry even more than the wand. Kreacher refused to call Harry 'Master' and even though Harry felt he was too young to be called that anyway, he still was positive that was significant. He just wasn't grasping why that meant anything.

And finally, Harry had family. Namely a one Jesse Potter, assumed to have been related to Harry's father somehow. He was perhaps a cousin? Harry didn't know, and neither could he figure it out. Jesse was an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. He didn't like Harry for whatever reason… Most likely because he was a death eater…

"BOOKS AWAY, MALFOY!" their insane Professor Jester cackled as he pulled himself out of a trap door on the ceiling and yet was not struck by gravity. A wave of Llywellyn's wand and Malfoy's books flew out through a window that seemed to overlook an ocean at Sundown—which was just weird as it was only four thirty AM where they were.

Malfoy looked really angry that Llywellyn did that, but the man in the pointy shoes didn't seem to care. Today instead of a three pronged cap with bells on it, he wore a scarf over his raven hair that had coins attached to the red fabric. The coins were not affected by gravity any more than the man who wore them, but they did jangle as he skipped toward a door on the wall, exiting through that to enter onto the main floor.

Llywellyn certainly was a colorful man. He wore clothes Harry thought was reminiscent of gypsies, made of bright silks and gauzes, loose fitting yet somehow very showy. His shirt seemed to be nothing more than a bright red strip of silk wrapped around his toned chest and over his left shoulder. Coins sparkled and dangled from the shirt's hem, as they did from the red silk sash he had tied around his waist. His pants were loosely fitted blue silk and the pointed shoes glimmered and jangled with red and silver coins.

He was an interesting sight to behold; his bare arms harbored a number of bangles and dangling from his ears were gold coins on short lengths of chain. Each step he took into the room created a strange kind of music.

"Awright!" Llywellyn called out unnecessarily loud in the room. "Books out!" The room was suddenly filled with scrambling as everyone tried to get their books out. Harry did so as well, looking at his completely unharmed book. Hermione had convinced them all not to wreck their books, sure that it was a trick.

Looking at them, Llywellyn's chocolate eyes narrowed. "No one did my assignment?" the previously cheery, and obviously bipolar, man was no longer smiling. "I had expected more from at least the present snakes," he snapped. He glared at Kagome, "What's your excuse, princess?" he demanded.

Kagome held up the damaged book; out of all of them, she appeared to be the only one who had done damage to her book. "I did everything you asked," she said. "I thought it was supposed to unlock some sort of spell binding on the book, but nothing happened."

Llywellyn stomped over to her, his strange attire jangling and whispering in his wake, and snatched away the book. He examined it closely and pursed his lips. "Try signing your name in Japanese. The spell is finicky sometimes." He practically whipped the book back at the girl and she squeaked.

Moving back toward the front of the room where his chalkboard was, he resumed glaring at everyone equally. "Since you English are stupid," he insulted them, "let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you have no idea what true defense means. In _my_ country, there are dozens of Moldywarts trying to take over the world on a daily basis." Quite a few people looked uncomfortable to hear that. Harry was glad he wasn't the only one who didn't know.

"We are superior to you in every way, shape, and form." The Slytherins weren't the only ones bristling over that statement. "Our magical abilities and even our most simple theories on magic are far more advanced than yours." Kagome was nodding in agreement to that. "While you rely on categorizing magic only in two categories—light and dark magic—we have seven different ways we sort our magic out. You're here thinking you're in an etiquette class, but you're not just here to learn which fork to use or what is acceptable behavior at a masquerade ball. You're here because you were specifically chosen by your head of house as being ready for this class, and Dumpydrawers approved you for taking this class."

Hermione hesitantly raised her hand and Llywellyn's eyes snapped on hers. "I'm not finished talking, Miss Granger. If you have a question, ask someone who cares." Hermione looked quite put out by Llywellyn and Harry could see the girl was beginning to seethe internally. "I'm not here to look pretty, even if I do. I'm here to teach you maggots a very special form of defense that not everyone in this school will be privy to. In fact, you lot are the _only_ ones currently allowed to take this class. You came highly recommended—all of you—for your advancing skills in magic."

The room seemed colder as Llywellyn went on. It was as if his reprimand was sucking the heat out of the place and making it feel forbidding just to be there. "If none of you were paying attention that first day at dinner, your headmaster said this is a _mandatory special defense class_."

Llywellyn suddenly switched back to being happy again as he said, "So! In light of these words, I'll assign your next homework assignment… unless you _want_ to write me a ten-foot essay?" The class joined together to shake their heads as one. None of them wanted that (although Hermione probably wouldn't mind it). "Alright then. In addition to doing assignment number one by Monday morning, you will also steal something from your best friend and gift wrap it to give to your greatest enemy."

Hermione had questions; anyone could tell that. "Yes, Miss Granger?" Llywellyn growled at her in obvious irritation.

"Just what sort of defense are you going to be teaching us, Professor Llywellyn?" she asked.

"Do assignment number one and you'll find out," he told her.

Kagome stood in front of the couch and Llywellyn turned his brown eyes on her. "Yes, princess?" he asked.

"My best friend isn't in this country," she began.

Llywellyn cut her off immediately. "That's not my problem, now is it? I gave you your assignment, its your job to find a way to complete it."

Harry noticed how she didn't say her greatest enemy wasn't in the country and it gave him cause to wonder…

Llywellyn added, "Both assignments are real. And next time you fail to comply with what I give you, I'll break you. Or your wand depending on my mood that day." He adjusted.

One of the few present Hufflepuffs asked quietly, "What if someone has more than one best friend?"

"Then someone will be very lucky on Monday," Llywellyn said, chuckling to himself. "You will be awarded for special things: how valuable the object you stole was to your best friend will be one of those things. You will also be awarded for how many gifts you receive ultimately. You will be punished if you allow yourself to be robbed. And don't think I won't know—I can practically smell deceit a mile away."

"But this is etiquette class!" Hermione objected. "Stealing is as far from proper as you can possibly get. And even if you are going to be teaching us defense, stealing isn't going to keep us safe. It will only bring animosity from our fellow peers!"

"Do the last assignment!" Llywellyn bit out at her. He turned away from them all as if ashamed to even look upon them. "You're dismissed!" he said. As everyone packed up and prepared to leave, he added one last thing: "Remember: don't trust _anyone_."

After they had all left through the trap door, Harry noticed Neville jogging to catch up with them, looking sheet white. "What's wrong, Neville," he asked.

Neville looked at Harry with strained eyes and said, "I asked him what you should do to gift your item…" he paused and then continued with a choked breath, "He suggested owl post…"

A chill ran down Harry's spine. Llywellyn was truly mad, he thought.

xXx

The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class began after breakfast that Friday morning and Kagome was really excited for it. She felt it would be the only class in which she would not be hindered in her learning, largely because with Sesshoumaru's influence she would probably be pushed harder than anyone else.

Kagome knew he would push her to her limits because she had more reason than most of the students at Hogwarts did to expect to be attacked. He wasn't the only one who would push her; Kikyou would as well but unlike Sesshoumaru who would want to make sure the _Shikon_ remained uninfluenced, Kikyou would do it simply to make sure _Kagome_ was safe from harm.

Kikyou had a reputation that preceded her at the Magic Academy; she was a firm, dedicated woman who cared about the welfare of others enough that she would do anything in her power to help them. Some students joked that Kikyou had been a Priestess in a past life.

That was probably why it was so surprising for her to find out of Kikyou and Sesshoumaru's engagement. They were almost polar opposites. Sesshoumaru did nothing that wouldn't suit him later on and Kikyou was frequently doing things that would provide her with no reward. Sesshoumaru was a Black Magic User and Kikyou was a White Magic User. He was a _demon_ and she was a _human_. Even their hair colors were a stark contrast: silver and black.

Kagome followed Chavi into the D.A.D.A. classroom. It was the same as the day she had received her birthday presents. The center of the room was open space and small cushions were placed by the walls for seats. A low, polished table made of mahogany was in front of each cushion, and the walls which made up the outer wall of the castle were made out of glass to let in the outside world.

The room was filling up quickly as all the sixth years from every house joined them. Kagome and Chavi ended up getting stuck between Kyle Marcus (who sneered at them) and Draco's bulky friend Goyle (who was currently nursing a black eye).

After a few moments of noisy pushing and shoving, they heard a voice shriek out, "Everyone, sit down! And if you sit on my tables, you will regret it!" The pushing and shoving lasted another several minutes before everyone had managed to find a spot on the floor.

Chavi told Kagome, "The room must have been enlarged from last year."

Kagome didn't answer; she didn't exactly know what to say to that. However, seated behind Chavi, they both heard Harry mutter, "That, or Umbridge just took up more space than we thought…"

Chavi snorted slightly as beside Harry, his friend Ron snickered. Hermione smiled slightly but hid that quickly. Kagome asked Chavi, "Who is Umbridge?"

The blonde flicked her hair over her shoulder and said, "Probably the worst fashion disaster to walk the earth. She was the D.A.D.A. professor last year. She and I disagreed on many occasions; if it weren't for my father, I would have been expelled last year. Bloody old hag…"

"Oh…" Kagome began, but then said, "what did you do wrong?"

"I told her what I really thought of her teaching methods." At Kagome's confused glance, she elaborated, "Umbridge seemed to feel that simply knowing the theory behind something will allow a person to execute any form of magic perfectly. I, however, firmly believe that knowing the theory behind something is only half of it. Certainly studying the theories is the first step, but actual practice is highly imperative to success."

"I quite agree with you, Miss Melody," Kikyou called over all the hubbub in the room. The noise in the room died down immediately and everyone turned to face Kikyou as she was entering the room with Sesshoumaru. "I am Sevina, Kikyou and I will be your instructor for the Mana portion of your defense lessons." She glanced at a small green figure who bowed to her. "Thank you for watching the room, Jaken."

"A pleasure," the figure replied in irritation before storming out of the room.

"This is Tetsuya, Sesshoumaru," Kikyou said, indicating Sesshoumaru with a wave of her hand. "He will be instructing you on your Stamina defense. For now, we will be splitting you up into two groups. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff will leave with Professor Tetsuya now and will return here in the afternoon. Slytherin and Gryffindor will spend the mornings in here and report to Professor Tetsuya across the hall in the afternoon. Any questions?"

No one had any, so she indicated that they were to hurry up and follow Sesshoumaru. Once the room was empty of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs, Kikyou said, "Alright, find a cushion with a suitable neighbor." A simple flick of her mahogany wand changed the colors of half of the cushions to Slytherin green and the other half to Gryffindor red so that the cushions alternated colors. "Slytherins will sit on their color, and Gryffindors will sit on their color. Understood?"

Once everyone had found a seat, Kagome found herself between Harry and Ron. On Harry's other side was Chavi, and the blond looked very pleased at her location. Harry looked quite flustered and was determined to look at anything but the person next to him. By an odd fate, Ron's other side had Blaise seated next to him, with Hermione after that, and Draco on Hermione's other side. The girl looked furious; Draco looked annoyed (although the little girl on his lap looked pleased to see Hermione and was greeting her warmly).

Kikyou walked out into the center of the room and said, "Now that everyone is situated, I am going to start out with a few basic principles learned in Primary School in my country. Mr. Malfoy and Miss Higurashi, I know this is merely review for you so if you have other work you wish to do you may work on that now. I will not hold that against you."

Draco scowled and Kagome knew why: his books were in another location due to Llywellyn throwing them out a magic window. Kagome took out her book on Fusion that Miroku sent for her birthday and opened it up to start reading some more, although she did keep one ear on Kikyou's voice.

Kikyou began explaining, "You will find there is no text book for this class. The simple reason for that is this: the theories you are going to begin learning are new to this country and while there has been ample time for translating the books into English for your reading pleasure, your government does not allow you to view them. I apologize for those of you who wish to study further in this path on your own; all I can offer you is an open door for those who wish to take additional lessons in your free time. My door is open at all hours. If you cannot find me here, you may look for me in the Infirmary as I will be assisting Madam Pomfrey this year."

Kikyou's traditional red and white kimono whispered as she turned frequently to gaze at the students located on all sides of the room, making sure she had their full attention. "From what I have been told, house points are valuable to students. To urge you all to spend additional time not only studying theories behind magic, but to practice it as well, I will award five house points to every student who spends at least one hour in this room practicing in addition to your regular class hours."

Continuing on she said, "While I am not able to mandate the time, there is an evening dueling session that will begin starting next week and will take place at the same time, seven days a week. The time is from seven PM until eight PM in the dojo across the hall where you will be meeting Professor Tetsuya for your lessons. These duels will be free form; you sign your name to a list and anyone may challenge you. As I said, it is not mandatory, but if you wish to pass my class it would be wise to participate. These duels incorporate everything you know utilizing all forms of defense."

Students were eager to hear about the dueling hour, though it was standard practice at the Magic Academy. She and Inuyasha were always having friendly matches on the "blue board", while Kouga and Inuyasha were always pounding out their differences on the "red board". The only difference was that there would be a specified time, while at the Magic Academy, the dueling arena was always open, even after curfew.

At the sound of sudden banging, Kagome looked up from her book. She wasn't the only one looking at Shiva; the little girl was smashing her impossible ball from Jesse Potter onto the table, still trying to get the bell from inside it. Kikyou ignored it and continued flawlessly.

"If you sign up to duel, be sure to check which list you are putting yourself on. The red board is for those who feel more secure in their dueling abilities—enough so that they may wish to place money on themselves to win. The winner receives compensation from the losing opponent, generally no less than fifteen sickles. The blue board is for those who simply wish to try their hand in the duel or to build up experience. You are only able to put your own name up; unless you take your name off, check the list daily for challengers. Not showing for a duel is an automatic loss and no matter which list you put your name on, you will be required to pay a sum of ten knuts to be used as an award to the winner of the final dueling tournament at the end of the year."

Several people looked apprehensive at the first thought of having to pay money because they lost, but simultaneously by the time she finished talking about the duels, many began to look eager to start as there were bound to be many no-shows throughout the year.

"In light of this information, as I have stated before, my door is always open and I am always available to teach you newer, greater Mana skills." Kikyou glanced around at them with calm brown eyes—quite a change from Llywellyn's ranting brown eyes—and smiled warmly. "Now, please pay attention. We will begin this first lesson with learning what defense is made of."

Students began pulling out their note scrolls and preparing themselves for a hard lesson.

"The first thing to know is that defense is incorporated of three things: two forms of mental defense, Spirit and Vitality, and one form of physical defense, Stamina. I won't be teaching you Vitality defense at this time. I will be teaching you Spirit defense, which is in its basic form, _Mana_ or magic. Now, in my country we classify the amount of mana you can perform by how many mana points you have.

"Every spell you perform costs a certain number of mana points—you do not have an endless supply of mana; eventually your mana points run low and you begin to grow weary. If you use too much mana, you will faint or fall unconscious. Moderation is the key to survival when using mana, because it is completely possible to overuse mana, resulting in serious injury and—in some cases—death."

The door to the classroom opened and Kagome looked up from her book again to see who was there. Several house-elves had come into the room, each carrying a small basket with small, cube shaped boxes inside. At a glance from Kikyou, the house elves began to hand out the cubes to each person until everyone had one.

Shiva grabbed Draco's and dropped her toy on the floor, preferring to examine the new object she'd been 'given'. Kagome was the only one who didn't receive a box, although she wasn't surprised. She had already done the exercise her fellow Hogwarts peers were about to do several years prior, at the start of Secondary School. Draco hadn't done it obviously because he started Secondary School in Hogwarts rather than the Magic Academy.

"You have each received a mana class orb; these are used to measure how much mana you currently have, and which of the seven types of mana suits you best. I will use these orbs to determine how I can teach you within your capabilities. Please keep the orb with you at all times; not doing so may result in an erroneous measurement and will only serve to hinder your learning experience within my class."

Everyone began to pry off the top of their box, taking the small glass orb from the safe, padded confines of the box. Kagome almost let her smile run away without her; the orbs looked identical to the Shikon, so they were obviously special designed orbs. Regular mana class orbs were baseball sized and looked like they were filled with grey smoke. These ones were small and filled with pink fog, probably made so anyone who saw Kagome with the Shikon might think it was a mana class orb and leave the subject at that.

"When we meet next Friday, I will collect the orbs. Do not let your orb get mixed up with someone else's. This will also result in an erroneous measurement and will serve to hinder your learning experience within my class. Now, there are seven types of mana classes. I will tell you what they are and give you a brief explanation of each today. When you know which type you are classified under, I will give you a more detailed explanation of your mana class at that time. Yes, Miss Granger? When you have a question or are answering one, I would like very much if you stand to address me."

Kagome glanced up from her book again, watching as Hermione hesitantly stood from her cushion. All eyes turned to Hermione when they had not previously been on her. Hermione looked less sure of herself as she became the immediate center of attention.

The practice of standing to answer or ask questions was common in many magical schools, not just Kagome's old one. For the most part, it caused a student to think twice about what they were about to say, although it did sometimes cause people (like Inuyasha) to intentionally act dumber than they were just to get a few laughs.

"Professor, I was wondering how these orbs can actually _measure_ our magic, and why we haven't been taught the seven types of," her lips pursed slightly as she tried to pronounce the foreign word, "_mana_ before."

Kikyou nodded, "Those are excellent questions, Miss Granger." Kagome realized it was a bit strange how Kikyou seemed to know who Hermione was without asking, although when she gave it additional thought Kikyou was nothing if not very thorough. She probably went out of her way to make sure she knew who her students were without having to ask the student directly. "Mr. Malfoy, perhaps you can remember? Why have you not been taught the seven types of mana in England? Miss Granger, you may have a seat to receive your answer."

Draco looked up from his current occupation (he was entertaining his sister with a bit of child's play magic) and blinked a few times in obvious surprise. Very slowly he turned to look at Hermione—to _glare_ at her as if it were her fault he had to answer—before he shifted Shiva off his lap and got to his feet. Everyone could see the obvious pain his leg caused him as he got up.

"The seven types of mana are not taught in England because we categorize spells as Dark magic or Light magic only. Anything classified as Dark magic—such as an Unforgiveable Curse or a potion requiring human blood—is banned. Any material that gives insight into Dark magic is banned." Draco's hand pressed on his injured leg and he put more weight on his right leg to relieve the strain on his left. "Any information that involves any sort of magic that the ministry of magic has deemed as 'dark' has been banned from future generations regardless of whether or not it _should_ be determined as such."

Draco went to sit down but Kikyou stopped him. "Please, Mr. Malfoy, one more question if you will?" Draco looked displeased and pursed his lips but nodded in compliance. "Do you agree with your own country's determination of what is 'dark' or 'light' mana?" Draco sneered quite openly, but did not speak. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. You may have a seat. Please see me before you head to lunch today."

She turned to look around the room again. "Now, as for the seven types of mana. Please take note of this, as it is very important information you will be required to know to pass this class. You will be required to know more about your own particular type of mana, but must still know the basics of all seven types."

With a flick of her wand, a ribbon appeared in the air and began to spell out the words **Grey Mana**. "Grey Mana—Miss Higurashi, Mr. Malfoy, please note the change—was previously known as Dark Mana. This classification is, while not completely out of the question, uncommon for a person to specialize in. Grey Mana is a very loose category containing a variation of spells that have been recently discovered or that the effects of the spell are unknown. Most spells are removed from the category after extensive research proves their fit is better in another category. Grey Mana Users often follow a career path in research, as their own class has a tendency to be temperamental if harnessed wrong. Yes, Miss Brown?"

Lavender Brown, a Gryffindor, stood up to ask, "Professor Sevina, why isn't it known as Dark Magic anymore? Why did they change the name?"

Kikyou nodded her acknowledgement of the question. "Very good question. The name was changed this past June due to a significant rise in confusion as certain factions were confusing _Japan's_ mana class with what the rest of the general world uses. Thank you for the question, Miss Brown." Lavender flushed with pleasure at the thanks and sat down quickly.

The ribbon in the air changed shape to write **White Mana** and began floating in a circle so all could see. "Next is White Mana, a very common classification. I am a White Mana User, or White Magic User if you prefer. White Mana spells are categorized as such due to their restorative and purifying nature. The most common career path for a White Mana User is often as a healer, although there are a few other career paths White Mana Users can take such as extermination or research." Kikyou tilted her head at Chavi as the girl stood up. "Miss Melody, your question?"

Chavi nodded abruptly, "You said extermination… you mean like bugs or something?" Kagome shuddered at the thought of bugs—oh, how she loathed the little buggers…

"No, Miss Melody, I mean _demon_ extermination. The mindless rogues whose only purpose is to intend harm or death on others through the means of possession, infection, or physical attack. While there are plenty of _people_ in this world who are called _demons_ simply because their appearance is different, they are nonetheless the same as you or I. This is why extermination is a very difficult path to follow and I would not recommend it to any of you. Thank you for another excellent question." She nodded at Chavi and the girl sat down.

"Another classification that is highly common is Black Mana." Kikyou continued and the ribbon wrote **Black Mana** in the air. "Black mana _exists_ for one purpose: destruction. Black Mana spells are commonly very powerful, and the user will require much strengthening of their personal mana reserves if they are to properly use their class to their advantage. While highly common, Black Mana Users are also the most likely to overuse their mana and kill themselves in the process. Professor Tetsuya and Professor Llywellyn are both Black Mana Users. A common career path for this type of mana is an Auror, or even a Spirit Detective which is the highest form of magical police in my country."

Harry stood up and Kikyou nodded at him to proceed with his question. "Can you be an Auror if you don't have Black Mana?"

Kikyou smiled. "Wonderful question, Mr. Potter. Yes, you can be. I am not in _any_ way telling you what career path you are expected to take but rather am telling you what career path is statistically most likely to be taken by a particular type of user. What a person lacks in Spirit can be more than made up for in Stamina. Aside from that, undoubtedly all of you have already decided on a career path—what I tell you today will not change what you want to be in the future. You may realize you will have to work much harder to get there, but in the end what I hope to have achieved in teaching you will be your own personal success in becoming what you wish to be. Thank you, Mr. Potter."

Harry looked relieved as he sat back down.

Kikyou's ribbon spelled out **Green Mana**, and she continued, "Green Mana is another very common class. In this room, I do not doubt that the majority of you will fall into White, Black, or Green mana. We may not see any of the other four categories here apart from Miss Higurashi. Green Mana Users are often best with spells that enhance protection or, in some cases, weaken your enemies. The career path of a Green Mana User is mostly scattered; some make protective charms, some will do minor government tasks. There is no obvious consensus as to what a Green Mana User will do through life."

As no one had questions on that (although some were curious what Kagome's class was) Kikyou kept going. "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Higurashi, please take note: Arcane Mana was also changed in June to Yellow Mana." The ribbon spelled **Yellow Mana** in the air. "These users are rare; in a recent census taken by the government, there are only five Yellow Mana Users in Japan as of last May which includes Miss Higurashi. There may be others we are unaware about, of course as most Yellow Mana Users are generally unsociable and seek hermitage. Miss Higurashi, perhaps you could tell us a bit about Yellow Mana?"

Kagome glanced up from her book and blinked. She hadn't been paying attention. She stood up, feeling a bit guilty for reading even though she did have permission previously. "Um, Yellow Mana?" she asked nervously, picking at her skirt hem.

Kikyou nodded encouragingly. "Yes, Miss Higurashi. Yellow Magic—_your classification_—I would like you to please tell us a bit about it."

Relief flooded through Kagome instantly. It was something she knew, although she doubted anything they were learning was going to be new to her (apart from the apparent fact that her class name had been changed). "Oh, um, right. Well, it used to be two separate classes, Arcane and Time, but in the early 1800's they joined them because almost _no one_ was able to use Time magic with any proficiency, and so few were able to use Arcane magic. They decided to join them because Saya Murasaki was able to use both so the government believed that any user should be able to handle learning both."

Kikyou nodded. "Very good, Miss Higurashi. And what exactly _is_ Arcane mana?"

"Arcane magic is classified as a general whole to be magic that can manipulate space and time." Kagome replied instantly.

"Can you give us an example?"

She's testing me, Kagome realized. "Well, for time you have artifacts like a time turner. Those are made using Arcane 'time' class magic. There are also invisibility cloaks which use the Arcane 'space' class magic. Master Saya did have a theory that you could use time magic in its raw form to transport yourself through to any time period, but he died before he could implement the theory in practice, and I'm not exactly keen on trying it myself."

"Can you think of any spells that can be cast using Yellow Mana, perhaps ones the rest of the class may recognize?"

Kagome thought for a moment before realizing that most of her class of mana was best used on artifacts. She had never really noticed that before until now. "I guess maybe an immobilize spell might be similar to something they may have used… Like a Body Bind Spell, maybe. Or a confusion spell might be similar to an Obliviate spell…"

"One more…" Kikyou told her encouragingly.

Kagome tapped the side of her leg as she tried to scrounge up the answer. "Death?" she asked and Kikyou nodded.

"Correct. The Death Spell used by Yellow Mana users was the very first absolute killing spell, used to kill small rodents and pests as they came to harm a farmer's livestock. It is similar to the Unforgiveable Curse, the _Avada Kadavra_ spell. Unlike the Unforgiveable, the Death Spell has been found to have no affect on something weighing more than thirty pounds. It is, however, one hundred percent effective against rats, raccoons, weasels, ferrets," a few people snickered for some reason and then looked at Malfoy, "or other pests that may decide it wants to haunt your henhouse." She smiled at Kagome, "And one last question, Miss Higurashi?"

"Yes?"

"What professions have you thought about seeking? Have you decided on a path?"

Kagome couldn't help but grin. "_Hai, Kikyou-sensei_," she said, her excitement plain on her face as she accidentally reverted to her native tongue, although she did manage to recall that Kikyou was her teacher now and not her superior classmate.

Kikyou chuckled. "English, please, Miss Higurashi. What career are you thinking of following?"

Kagome had to keep herself from bouncing on her heels as she replied, "Research, Professor Kikyou. More specifically in the field of Fusion. There's so much to learn and with such a unique combination of Arcane magic and potions, the possibilities are endless. I've already got a great head start on the career with Miroku; we made White Matter at the end of last year and its been really useful. My goal is to be trying my own Fusion-potions in a few years, not just Inshorn Qurvain's."

Kikyou nodded. "It is good for you to have a goal. If you need help with Fusion, please do not hesitate to ask Professor Tetsuya's assistant Jaken. He is quite adept at Green Magic Fusion and may have a few tips that will aid you."

Recognizing the end of the questioning, Kagome bowed to Kikyou in respect and seated herself on the cushion again, stowing away the knowledge of Jaken's fusion abilities. She never did like Jaken much (he was rude and annoying, even though he was older) but if he had pointers and didn't mind helping, she wouldn't mind sweet talking him for a day or so.

"Continuing to the next type of mana," Kikyou said as the ribbon wrote **Red Mana** in the air, "Red Mana is less common but not really rare to have. It contains spells that can only be used on animate objects. For instance, the animagus spell, an ability to transform oneself into an animal and back at will is a Red Mana spell." The ribbon wrote **Blue Mana** next. "Blue Mana is about as common as Red Mana, and it is a counterpart of Red Mana. Where Red Mana contains spells that can only be used on animate objects, Blue Mana spells can only be used on _inanimate_ objects. An example of this would be a spell to unlock something, such as _Alohamora_. Red and Blue Mana Users are often found in government positions such as magic reversal squads and magic artifact departments."

Ron stood up and blurted, "But can't people still do all sorts of magic?"

"Of course, Mr. Weasley." Kikyou said calmly. "Simply being in one class or another doesn't mean you _cannot_ learn another class. We merely find what _your_ magic is best suited for and help you learn that. For example, Miss Higurashi's magic is best suited in Yellow Mana, but she _does_ know a bit of White Mana as well. I don't doubt that the majority of you know various spells from various classifications, however I believe you will find that certain types of spells make more sense and are easier to perform for you while another of your classmates struggles with that very thing. Understand?"

Ron nodded sheepishly and sat back down.

Kikyou added, "It is never uncommon to find someone who seeks to gain knowledge in all classes; there are a select number of spells from Green, Black, and White mana classes that students are required to learn at the Magic Academy to give a rounder base of knowledge to the student. Some, like Professor Tetsuya who is a Black Mana User, seek to continue to expand their knowledge base. In doing so, Professor Tetsuya has learned much of the Green Mana class and is currently pursuing the White Mana class. There is no limit to what you can _learn_, but there is a limit on how much you can use that knowledge at one time. However, I will explain this in more detail next Friday when you know how many mana points you have."

She flicked her wand and the ribbon disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Very well. It is nearly time for you to head to lunch then. Before you go, I would like you all to write a brief summary of what mana category you _would like_ to be in and why, and what mana category you believe you really will be in despite your desire and why you think you will be there. Finish it off with a description of what career path you would like to take and why and turn it in before you leave here today. Miss Higurashi, you are exempt from this assignment. Take care on penmanship; if I cannot read it, I will throw it away and consider it as not being completed."

Both Harry and Ron got out fresh sheets of parchment…

xXx

Ron and Harry were famished by the time lunch came around and were eager to turn in their assignments and leave. Hermione, on the other hand, was (although it was normal for her) turning her assignment into a novel. "'Mione, hurry up," Ron complained as Harry and Ron waited for her.

Hermione glanced up at them briefly, "Oh, sorry guys. I just want to finish this up."

Ron slouched slightly and said, "If we don't hurry up, the good stuff will be gone by the time we get there."

"Always one to think with your stomach, aren't you, Weasley?" Malfoy drawled from his spot next to Hermione.

Ron felt indignant over Malfoy's comment and said, "Why don't you just shove off, ferret?"

Hermione sighed heavily, "Don't start a fight, Ronald. Malfoy is just being his usual self." For a moment, Harry was startled to hear that from Hermione. After all, she was glaring death at the Slytherins just that morning and suddenly she was acting like a peace keeper? It took him a moment to recall the whole 'bet' thing between Zabini and Malfoy and how Hermione had made plans to turn that plan around on both the Slytherins.

She was probably starting to implement her plans.

Malfoy was slightly taken aback by Hermione's words and his mouth was ajar to prove that. "What do you mean by that?" Malfoy demanded immediately as he bristled.

Hermione ignored Malfoy and looked at Ron and Harry. "I'll just be a few minutes—you guys go on ahead."

Harry was about to say 'we'll wait for you' but Ron interrupted and said, "If you're sure…" Since Harry didn't want to make his friend look bad in front of Malfoy, he wisely kept his mouth shut and let Ron use the opportunity to slide away.

"If I weren't sure, I wouldn't have mentioned it. Go on."

Ron nodded and they left her in the D.A.D.A. classroom. As they were leaving, they heard Hermione say, "Well, not everyone gets what they want, Malfoy!" in a slight huff to respond to something he probably said. Harry shook his head. She'd never turn that bet against Malfoy if she kept letting him get on her nerves…

Outside in the hall, they had to skirt around a bundle of Slytherins. Ron said, "Man, that class was really overkill."

Harry agreed. "It was a lot to take in at once, but still, I'd rather Professor Sevina teach us than Umbridge again." Ron nodded heartily and they made their way toward lunch.

xXx

Moments later, Hermione and Malfoy (along with his sister) were the only ones left in the room with Professor Sevina. When the young Professor asked, "Miss Granger, how are you doing on the assignment?" Hermione looked up.

"Oh, I'm almost finished, Professor." She finished writing and packed up her things, sticking the mana orb in her pocket and using a useful spell she knew to seal the pocket closed. She went and set her paper on Professor Sevina's desk and noticed a book atop the surface with a magical photograph of Kagome and her two-tailed cat in her arms pictured on the cover.

The only reason Hermione was sure it was the Slytherin and not Professor Sevina (seriously, those two could be twins, Hermione thought) was because the girl in the photo was wearing the same strange bead necklace Hermione had noticed on Kagome the day she spent in Kagome's room working on the Potions assignment. The text on the book was in Japanese, however, so she had no clues as to why someone would make a book about Kagome.

She thought it might have something to do with why Professor Llywellyn and Jesse Potter both called Kagome 'princess' but she couldn't bring herself to believe that Kagome might be a princess of any kind. For one thing, Kagome didn't seem the type. Unless she was a very good actor (which would make sense given she was a Slytherin) and was just pretending to be a ditz.

Not wanting to be caught lingering, Hermione quickly made her exit and, in the process, ran into someone in the hall outside quite literally. Thankfully the halls were emptied out by that time (aside from Blaise Zabini who appeared to have been lingering—probably waiting for Malfoy).

Both Slytherin and Gryffindor had the misfortune of going tumbling and their bags spilled out. Hermione scrabbled for her papers as Blaise struggled for his own.

"Sorry about that," Zabini muttered and then flashed her a grin. She knew he was attempting to put on the charm for her and she was surprised to feel her face warm up slightly.

Realizing that she might be able to use that to her advantage, she said, "Oh, no problem." Under her breath, she couldn't keep from biting out, "Although it wouldn't have happened if you weren't standing in the way." She couldn't believe herself, especially when she could tell he heard that from his expression.

"Hey, I said I was sorry. Isn't that enough for you?" Zabini asked incredulously.

She supposed just getting a Slytherin to say 'sorry' at all should have been recognized as a national feat but again she just couldn't keep herself from snapping, "After five years of torment by the Slytherins, you think a sorry is going to be enough for _anything_?" She crammed her things in her bag and cursed herself for not holding her tongue.

She wasn't going to get anywhere in her plans if she didn't stop snapping at Malfoy and Zabini. She wanted to get them both to think she was interested in them and when they asked her out she could 'agree' to meet them and then make them look like fools when she stood them up. (A foolproof plan, surely!)

Hermione stood up and moved around Zabini, hurrying down the hall. She didn't expect him to call out to her and come after. "Granger! Granger, wait a minute."

In her surprise, she took a wrong turn and found herself at the bottom of an up staircase. Zabini caught up to her there and grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him. "Let me _go _Zabini!" she said. She automatically kicked him in the shin and shoved him away from her, but his grip on her arm was firm and when he fell against the wall, she was pulled flush against the dark skinned wizard's body.

She was thankful the wall was there or else the position they would have ended up in might have been more… curious, to say the least. Still… her heart was racing in her chest and for a second his grip loosened.

Hermione used that second to pull away and was fully intent on running away, but Zabini wasn't going to let her. She barely took a step before he grabbed her arm and shoved her against the wall. She didn't even have the opportunity to scream because his lips were quite suddenly on hers.

Eyes wide with fright (what was he doing?!) she could only stand there as frigid as a board, or as frigid as one could be when their messenger bag was between their lower back and the wall causing them to arch their back in quite an annoying fashion.

'Oh my god, a Slytherin is kissing me, oh my god oh my god!' her mind screamed. His large hand released her arm and came up to wrap around the back of her neck. He pulled her up into a—slightly—more comfortable standing position as those fingers massaged loosely the nape of her neck.

She almost thought she could see a pleased gleam in his eyes as all she could do was let her hands fall uselessly to her sides. She couldn't remember what to do with them anymore.

Zabini ran his warm tongue along her bottom lip and she gasped in surprise. He was really, _really_ going out of his way to win that bet, wasn't he? But wasn't this the wrong way to go about things? Shouldn't she be doing something to him for this? What should she do?

His tongue touched hers and sent a shock of electricity right to the core of her body. She felt weak-kneed and heard a distant thump of something on the ground as his other arm came around to support her. Hermione was quite grateful, because she was definitely not up to the task of standing at the moment.

He pulled her tighter into his embrace and she was amazed at how much he could mold their bodies to fit together. Sure, she had been embraced before; she had even snuggled with Victor Krum in fourth year, but she had no idea how close a person could actually get to another. Of course her brain _would_ start thinking useless things like that at a time when such thoughts were so inappropriate.

Zabini pulled away just barely enough that he could place a few feathery kisses on her lips before he once again kissed her quite passionately. Her mind was spinning around in circles, unable to decide whether this was good or bad. It certainly didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Her arms felt heavy at her sides, so she brought them up against his chest to support the strange weight. She could feel him smiling against her lips and then he was pulling her lower lip between his teeth. The sensation of his teeth gently raking against her flesh made her gasp and her tongue darted out to free her lip from captivity.

He did free her lip, but then his tongue darted out to dance with hers. Her body felt like it was burning and yet, for some reason, she craved this feeling of heat. It was at that point that Zabini's supporting arms released her and she fell against the wall, sliding down to the floor.

Smirk in place, Zabini knelt down and picked up a book she vaguely recognized as hers, wrapping her fingers around it. She watched him as he wordlessly walked out of the deserted stairwell and into an equally deserted hallway realizing that barely a few minutes had passed.

Her hand came up to her lips and she pressed her fingertips to them. What did he just do to her? That wasn't at all like what she had with Krum. And why did he do it?

xXx

As Blaise took a seat next to Kagome in the Great Hall, she asked him, "What are you grinning for?"

The self-satisfied smirk stayed in place as he said, "What, I can't be happy around gorgeous women these days? Any guy in my place would be happy."

Chavi rolled her eyes, "Ignore him, Kagome. He's probably just given someone tentacles and it made him feel big and important."

"Tentacles are _so_ yesterday," Blaise said loftily. "The spell of the day is 'jelly legs'. Now, what'd I miss out on?" he quickly started loading up his plate with food.

Pansy said, "Well, you missed Drake. He was looking for you and said he'd be down in his room."

Blaise snorted, "Yeah, I know what he wants. I'll talk to him later."

Changing the subject, Chavi asked, "So how's that bet working out, Blaise?" she chuckled. "Marcus looked pretty frustrated at how you and Drake both sat by Granger."

Kagome blinked. "Is this Marcus guy also in on the bet?"

Blaise scowled, "Hell no." He jutted his chin at bulky Kyle Marcus down the table and said, "That's Marcus."

"Oh!" Kagome said as she recognized him. "I remember him; he came and knocked on my door that first night." She frowned at how much hair potion Kyle used. "Does everyone around here have to use hair potions? A simple fire spell would cause an explosion at our table large enough to level the school, I'd bet." She was exaggerating just a little.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Hair potions keep me from having an afro. Without them, I'd die."

"Why not put your hair in corn rolls?" Kagome asked.

Chavi laughed. "Kagome, you're talking to a Slytherin. Hair potions are—as I told you—practically law around here."

"But you don't wear them." Kagome pointed out.

Pansy argued, "Yes, but Chavi isn't your typical Slytherin either."

"Indeed," Chavi agreed and said good naturedly, "I don't throw myself out there for every male who walks by."

Pansy huffed, "I wouldn't need to if Drake would stop being a prude! I swear, he'll sleep with anyone—except me! One day you'll understand why I need company, Chavi, and then I'll have no pity on you."

Kagome shuddered. "Okay! New subject."

Blaise grinned as he saw her discomfort. "Alright, if you don't want to talk about Drake's sex life, let's talk about yours!"

Kagome's face turned bright red. "That's really none of your business, now is it?" she squeaked. "Besides, its not like you'd _ever_ know anyone I may or may not have socialized with in the past."

Chavi snickered. "Ah, so is that what people call sex these days? Socializing? Pan, I really thought you'd keep me in the loop!"

"My sincerest apologies," Pansy said in a showy manner. "It must have slipped my mind." She turned to look eagerly at Kagome. "Do tell, Kagome. What's his name?"

Kagome didn't realize she could turn any redder but she managed it just fine. "Who says I have a boyfriend anyway?"

"Oh please, Kagome," Blaise sniffed haughtily as he ate his food. "It's obvious."

"I – uhm – had a crush on Sesshoumaru for a very long time…" Kagome said hesitantly.

Pansy said, "Don't even try to get out of it. I can crush on Drake all I want, but that doesn't mean I don't have a new boyfriend every week."

Kagome suddenly found her plate very interesting. "I really would rather not talk about it…"

"What's the big deal?" Blaise pressed. "It isn't like we're your parents. We can keep secrets."

Chavi remained silently watching Kagome's face from across the table as Pansy added, "Yeah. You can tell us. Was he older or younger than you?"

Kagome's lips pressed together tightly and she remained staring at her plate of food. The only difference was that now she was pressing her food across the surface of the plate. "I don't want to talk about it, because I _can't_ talk about it." She said.

Blaise said, "What do you mean you can't talk about it? Of course you can talk about it!"

Kagome slammed her fork down on the plate hard enough that she broke the plate. She glared at Blaise, Pansy, and Chavi each in turn. "_I said no._" was all she said before she got up, grabbed her bag, and hauled herself out of the Great Hall.

She didn't want to think about it, but it came back fresh to her mind as she moved quickly through the halls.

_His crimson eyes were filled with glee as he brought his deadly claws down on the older woman. As she fell, those eyes turned so slowly toward Kagome and her younger brother, both of them rooted to the spot with fear. One step closer was all it took and then…_

The wall wasn't strong enough to hold her up. Kagome fell to her knees, weeping into her hands. She wasn't sure how long she was there before tiny little arms wrapped around her neck. In surprise, she stopped crying and looked at the little girl who had hugged her.

"Don't cry," Shiva pleaded with her.

Kagome glanced around her and saw that Draco was a few feet behind her in the dungeon corridor. He wore a neutral expression as he glanced at her, much like he used to wear on the train to the Magic Academy. It was nice to see something on his face other than the hateful sneer he'd worn all week, but at the same time she wasn't exactly wearing friendly expressions at him either.

Gently pushing Shiva back, Kagome leaned on her heels and wiped her eyes on her robe sleeve. She expected Malfoy to say something snide to her, but to her surprise he just said, "It never goes away, does it?"

Kagome looked incredulously at him. "What?" she asked.

"The pain. The memory. Does it ever go away?"

Kagome closed her eyes and tried to understand why he was being so cryptic. It would be easier if she just got up and took offense to what he said; it would make sense to assume he was just there to make her mad. But when she thought about it, he never made sense.

So she stood up and turned to face him. "Sometimes they do, but only when you don't want them to."

He closed his eyes for a moment as though recalling a memory of his own. "I suppose…" he agreed. He opened his eyes again and opened his bag, pulling out a vial of clear, thick liquid. He crossed the few steps to her and pressed the vial into her hands. "Its almost time for class. This will remove the discoloration." He didn't smile or glare or frown the whole time. His expression just remained neutral. Like on the train… "Come on Shiva," he told his sister.

On her way to follow him as he left down the hall, Shiva tugged lightly on Kagome's skirt. Kagome looked down at the little blond girl. "Don't be sad. Dee-dee said today is a good day, so you should be happy."

With that said, 'Dee-dee' and his sister left Kagome standing in that dungeon corridor. She realized she wasn't far from the Slytherin house entrance. He probably heard her and came to see who she was.

Kagome looked at the vial in her hand. "Another gift…" she murmured. He was always giving her things when the mood struck him just right back at the Magic Academy. The one she remembered most was the rose.

_"My father told me you did not cry. At your father's funeral, I mean…"_

_"No, I did not."_

_"I do not believe I would cry at my father's funeral either."_

He had given her a rose for her father, but he never told her how his father knew she didn't cry. Draco had been so serious that day as he spoke to her. She never really questioned it, however, because so many people she didn't know were at the funeral. Her foster father had been an auror, well-known and well-liked.

That day on the train, Draco was the one who saw her finally shed two months worth of pent up grief. She didn't cry at the funeral or after it. In his own way, Draco got her back on her feet after her father died, removing her from her ghost-like emotional state by making her angry.

And then when the clock fast-forwarded to the present, in his own way, Draco Malfoy was still as confusing as he used to be. He made her frustrated, angry, confused, but still better. She only hoped he didn't pay attention to the current events in Japan—she didn't want or need his pity.

* * *

Information overload... --author dies--


	27. Stamina Defense

**Title: Voldemort's Daughter**

Author: Tsubasa Kya

_Disclaimer__: I own neither the man-creatures from the "Inuyasha-sama" universe, nor the man-creatures from the world of "Harry Potter". They are solid belongings of Rumiko Takahashi and J.K. Rowling._

Chapter 27

When Harry and Ron entered the D.A.D.A. training room after lunch—where they were to be taught by Professor Tetsuya—they found they were the only ones early to class. Every sixth year had to be overly tired from the information overload provided by Professor Sevina and Professor Llywellyn's early morning class, and were taking their every spare moment to nap. Harry and Ron were excited to go see what class was going to be like.

_Especially_ given what they saw once they entered the room.

As they entered the room, they stepped out onto a metal grated platform, like a balcony. They approached the rail, trying to see what was beneath them but all they could see below was either clouds or—more likely—some sort of misty fog. There were strange looking metal objects that hovered in various places, all of them different shapes, over the deep gorge.

Along the wall behind them—when Harry thought to turn around and look at where they clustered at the rail—was a long line of weapons on their racks. Harry saw bows and crossbows, swords and spears, daggers and axes, hammers and maces, staves and rods… It was surreal… Were they going to learn to use these?

Ron said, "Blimey, Harry… are those swords?" He too had noticed the weapons.

xXx

If there was one thing in this gods-forsaken world he hated more than children, it was the ones who spoke in a foreign accent and muttered ridiculous things like 'Blimey, Harry… are those swords?' And no, he would not accept any of his fiancée's petulant remarks insisting he was an idiot child once as well…

Kikyou seemed to enjoy making him miserable in their quiet, alone time. The gods only knew why, but she did. It was the woman's way of punishing him because they had to get married—as if he had much choice… If he could have picked his own wife, he would have picked Ilyes no matter how insane the man was… except his father would never have approved and therefore Ilyes hated Sesshoumaru for… what was the phrase he used?

"Turning against the sausage." Whatever that was supposed to mean… Although why Kikyou was upset over the arrangements, Sesshoumaru had no idea. She was among the lower class, coming into high standing and good money. She should have no complaints at all.

The door to the room opened up, and the very elf who was a constant battering ram to Sesshoumaru's thoughts marched into the dojo. Ilyes had always been a curiosity to Sesshoumaru. Everything about him was completely different from the rest of the world. He was an enigma wrapped in a conundrum, with a liberal amount of eclecticism drizzled on top. It was why he'd been… interested.

Sesshoumaru's eyes glanced over the elf's form, taking in the flashy new garments. His raven hair was hidden beneath a red scarf with red and silver coins acting like a fringe to the scarf. He wore dangling earrings, each earring consisting of a gold coin on a short length of chain. As always, he moved with the dignity and grace of a born-and-raised queen.

His sash was of a bright apple red silk. It crossed his toned chest and muscular back, resting on his left shoulder and crossing at his waist to wrap around it. Ilyes was in a jangling coin mood, because red and silver coins were acting as a fringe for the sash as well.

Sesshoumaru tried not to let his eyes linger too long on the exposed area on Ilyes chest; a pert nipple. Gods, what was his problem? He had agreed to his father's arrangements. Kikyou was his fiancée. And yet… his eyes still lingered on the past. Swung the length of Ilyes body, over the blue silk covering Ilyes' legs in a loose fashion, to the pointed shoes that glimmered with red and silver coins, and then to the bangles decorating his firm, muscled forearms in a variety of golds, reds, and silvers.

Gods, he shouldn't still want Ilyes. Not when he was engaged to someone else… Even the fierce look in Ilyes brown eyes was… No, it was nothing.

Turning away from Ilyes, he looked at the rack of swords, trying to be busy though he really wasn't. Two months ago he would have dropped everything the minute Ilyes walked into the room, simply knowing that if he didn't, it would mysteriously disappear and Ilyes would be very annoying until he paid him mind.

It had been easy to ignore Ilyes for several weeks after the initial engagement, since it had happened and then Kagome was attacked. Sesshoumaru lost his arm, and things just kept piling up. Now, since arriving at the school a week and a half ago (just a few days before the students did) it was harder to ignore Ilyes, especially when the elf knew he was being ignored within moments of their arrival.

Ignoring the two students in the room, Ilyes stormed over to Sesshoumaru. At least he had the intelligence to speak Japanese. It would be a very bad thing if the world found out of their past affair… "Why are you ignoring me, damn it?" the man demanded, his Japanese rushed and his elvish accent really pushing on the words to make him difficult to understand.

Sesshoumaru grasped one of the swords from the rack. Swinging around, he saw the two teen boys jump in surprise as the sword created sparks when it met the metal grating where Ilyes had once stood. The elf jangled as he flipped expertly backward, ending up near a rack of long handled hammers. Ilyes' manicured hand reached out and grasped the handle of one of those hammers and pulled it off the rack, hefting its large weight easily.

Sesshoumaru drawled easily, "You threaten my ward's safety, Llywellyn…" He'd been hearing whispers all week about Ilyes and his comments toward Kagome. He'd already dealt with Jesse Potter. Jesse promised he would say nothing in the future, but it was still annoying to have to deal with it at all.

Kagome had a powerful asset with the jewel that had been dragged from her flesh the previous summer. With the power of the jewel which only she could wield, she could control canines and anything with canine blood rushing through its veins. If Kagome really wanted to try, she could control Sesshoumaru as well. She couldn't control him because her mind blocked her from being able to, because of her childish crush on him. She felt she shouldn't be able to control someone like him, and therefore she could not.

He never complained about it. He saw her use that power once or twice on Kouga and Inuyasha, when their fighting became too rough. Their eyes had glowed pure red and they were incapable of independent action. Inuyasha had said he knew what was happening, he simply couldn't control himself.

Ilyes twirled the hammer lazily from one hand to the other. His brown eyes burned furiously. "Ilyes Llywellyn does _not_ make threats," he sniffed haughtily. "Only promises."

"If you disrupt my ward's limited peace here, you will regret it. We have very little time before word reaches the ears of the English." Sesshoumaru stood straight and held the sword ready, his eyes on Ilyes' motions. They'd never fought physically before. Ilyes tried to goad Sesshoumaru into it plenty, but this was the first time Sesshoumaru felt the desire to strike out.

"If I disrupt it?" Ilyes giggled and swung out with the hammer; a burning ball of fire shot toward Sesshoumaru. He darted to the side and the ball crashed into the wall with a resounding bang. The two English boys jumped in surprise. "Oh, please, puppy. I'll let her reveal herself! It's more fun that way!"

"You'll leave it alone," Sesshoumaru told him calmly.

"Oh, I will?" his eyes gleamed. "Who's going to make me?" Ilyes laughed.

xXx

Okay, it was official. Kagome was lost. She hadn't planned on it, but it always seemed to just happen to her at the worst, most inopportune moments. Sesshoumaru was _so_ going to kill her for being late to his class. It didn't matter that he was as good as her parental guardian; in fact, that meant he was _more_ viable to kill her than he would anyone else.

And, just to make matters worse, he'd probably do it with a huge crowd. No, not _probably_. He _was going to_ do it in front of the _entire_ student body, just to make a point to the rest of the students that tardiness cost lives. Oh, shit, this was so not good.

Damn Hogwarts to hell for being so ungodly large. The Magic Academy had more students and it was _smaller_. How did that work anyway?

She supposed she _could_ ask one of the portraits where to go, but honestly… they still unnerved her. The Magic Academy never had moving portraits; the people in the portraits never darted from one frame to another…

She tried not to think of her impending doom and continued searching. Surely if she got lost enough times she'd start learning the layout of the building…

She finally made it to the Great Hall… Which was where she started out…

"This is so not good…" Kagome whined.

"Why is it I always run into you?"

Kagome whirled around and scowled automatically at the one-and-only Draco Malfoy. "Because you like causing me pain?" she grumbled. "That's the only reason I can think of."

"Yes, I seek you out for the sole purpose," Malfoy snapped.

Shiva skipped along behind her older brother as he limped across the distance separating them. He stopped right in front of her, his iceberg eyes smoldering with his cruel hatred of her. Kagome knew her own eyes reflected the feelings he felt.

Shiva looked curiously up at the two and asked innocently, "Dee-dee, are you going to kiss her?"

Instantly, Kagome shot away from her enemy. Her, kiss _him_? He'd have to be the last man on the planet, and probably not even then! No, it would have to take something _very_ drastic for her to kiss him. She'd rather stick a sword in her own gut.

Equally, he looked discomfited over young Shiva's innocent question. He was half gagging already. "No, Shiva, absolutely not!"

"But you look at her just like daddy looks at mummy, and daddy and mummy still kiss!" Shiva continued.

"You're screwed up," Kagome snapped at Malfoy, shoving him before running away from him. Hopefully she made it to class… was this the right direction?

She still managed to make it to class at the precise moment Draco did. It was as if the world was against her; she'd gone a different way than he did, but still ended up where she wanted to be, at a time when she wished she didn't get there. How the _hell_ did that work?

Glaring at Malfoy, she slipped into the room seriously hoping to do so unnoticed. Malfoy entered after her. Her appearance did _not_ go without comment.

"Wonderful; now that you two have joined us from wherever you decided to copulate," Sesshoumaru drawled, causing both of them to turn red at his choice accusation, "we can begin." Kagome glared at the man. Oh, how she loathed him. Him and his choice of words… She was only five minutes late, surprisingly, but he had to say that?? About her?? With MALFOY?!

Already she could see whispers forming on the lips of the students—though thankfully they appeared unwilling to share their thoughts with their neighbors while Sesshoumaru's hardened eye was on them.

"You are all here to learn Stamina Defense; to raise your physical strength to where you can fend off an onslaught of powerful beings such as myself. Not that I expect much from you weaklings, but this is what I have been hired to teach you, nonetheless." Sesshoumaru indicated the open space of blackness behind him, and the strange metal objects that were out there in random places. "To demonstrate what you will be learning in Defense Against the Dark Arts this year with myself and my counterparts," Kagome did not miss the 'counterparts' word… So Professor Llywellyn was teaching Vitality Defense, probably… "I have decided Kagome Higurashi and Draconius Malfoy will work _together_ to attempt to overcome Professor Llywellyn, inside the arena."

Kagome gulped. He was joking, right?

**Thank you for reading! Sorry about the crappiness of the chapter, but I've had a tough time getting anything out at all, so hopefully it was okay anyway. Let me know what you thought, please...**


	28. The Arena

Title: Voldemort's Daughter

Author: Tsubasa Kya

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this tom-foolery.

Chapter 28

If there was one thing that had skyrocketed straight to the top of Nells' list of 'favorite things to do' in a ridiculously short time frame, it was destroying people. He never claimed to be a "nice" or a "good" creature, and he could never be accused of being a creature of the light. It was through the great gift that his darling lover had just given him that let him know somewhere deep within that cold, steaming hot exterior (oooh, he wanted that posterior!) Sesshoumaru truly did love Nells.

After all… he'd just given Nells the two people in the room who just so happened to hate the other with every ounce of their soul, and hatred was a fine toy to play with. In fact, it was among Nells' favorite toys, just shy of the number one spot which was reserved for All-Sesshoumaru's-Parts.

There was just so much to work with when hatred was thrown in the mix. He listened to Sesshoumaru talk, feeling excitement bubble in his veins while he shifted from one foot to the other in anticipation.

He practically lived for fighting and causing strife, brewing animosity, these were things he was good at doing.

xXx

Draco's day had gone from bad straight to 'If there is a god, she's a woman and hates me'. His morning had been painful and blood filled, which considering his dramatic dislike of blood (at least he no longer fainted at the sight of it) wasn't too pleasant. His leg simply wasn't getting better no matter how many potions and salves and bandage changes he went through.

The very thought of the routine he had to wake up to do made Draco cringe and recall just how he got the wounds over the summer. It wasn't exactly a fun time.

Shiva had woken up early that morning and had thrown a complete fit because she wanted her "hamster dance song". He really could not understand the beauty of that song as Shiva wanted him to. It was just an annoying, high pitched bit of noise. He could play her anything she wanted on his violin (the only hand-me-down he owned) but no. She wanted the hamster dance! And what Shiva wanted, she got. He could no more deny her every desire than he could cut off his own hand.

If he were a lesser man, he would have faltered on his incapability of playing something that he had no music to. But thankfully he wasn't a lesser man, and he'd heard the song about a thousand times in the short period of time they were hiding with the muggles. So before any of his morning routine could be followed, he had to dig his violin out of his trunk and play the song for the little girl who jumped and spun and hopped and screamed and giggled and had way too much energy for having just woken up.

He couldn't risk being late, so by the time he managed to sooth her desire for the hamster dance after playing a three-and-a-half-minute song for a half an hour (improvisation was the key to his sanity, and she didn't notice he began to change the song up, changing key here and there), he had to throw on some clothes and forget bandaging his leg for the morning.

It made for a very uncomfortable time until breakfast. This was setting aside the fact that he didn't function well until after he'd eaten something in the mornings.

Since Professor Snape was gone—a fact that had honestly slipped Draco's mind—on his way to locate a professor to (hopefully) be indulgent enough to watch Shiva for the morning he'd run into that Jesse Potter. That had been… interesting… Jesse Potter had looked down the few inches at Draco with a strange something just broiling behind the surface of his eyes. Whatever it was, Draco wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Good morning, Malfoy." Jesse Potter had said, his face carefully passive. It was just a guess, but Draco was positive that Jesse Potter wasn't a Gryffindor when he went to Hogwart's. Draco hadn't responded to the older man; he felt no real urge to. He knew when he was required to make a show of manners, and deep within him he felt it was necessary to be rude to Jesse Potter—to rebel against the teachings he was brought up in.

When he didn't respond but rather turned to go around the man, Jesse Potter said, "You planning on taking that girl to a class with Ilyes in it? He'll tear her apart, he sees her. He hates children."

Draco had sneered something incredibly rude toward Jesse Potter that he didn't recall anymore and then took off. It was pure luck that McGonagall pitied him because of his current situation, so she took Shiva.

And then the bastard Professor Llywellyn had chucked his school work into who-knew-where. He really did want to kill the man, or at least watch him suffer… The man was disturbingly calm about his delights. His eyes showed just how much he loved torturing people. His smile was insane. He didn't know precisely why he wanted to kill the man, but something in Draco's bones promised trouble coming from that man.

And now… he was positive he was about to get that trouble.

He knew his face had gone ashen when he was called to 'fight with Kagome'. He didn't doubt that the Professor knew of the animosity that existed between the two of them. It was impossible not to know of it; every time their eyes met, he could see the hatred burning like wild fires within their dark blue depths.

She didn't even know the half of her reasons she had to hate him…

"Stamina Defense is the art of defense using physical means to ward off attack. With the right training, you should be capable of using whatever you have available as a weapon, regardless of whether you have magic at your disposal." Professor Tetsuya said.

Draco chanced a look over at Kagome. He saw her nervous tick was the same as it used to be. She was playing with the sleeve of her robe. She knew as well as he did that teaming them up would be a bad idea. He couldn't work with her. But apart from her nervous tick, he could see her jaw clenched and the fire raging in her eyes.

Pair him up with Potter, for crying out loud and he could work with him. But for Merlin's sake, pair him up with her? He just couldn't do it!

He wasn't really listening to the teacher until he was beckoned forward, so most of the things said went unheard. Draco watched as the gathered crowd of Slytherins and Gryffindors parted like the Red Sea did for Moses. He couldn't help but think, 'Oh shit,' before looking for a familiar friendly face. Seeing Pansy, he pulled Shiva over to the girl.

"Watch her," he hissed at Pansy. "And this time don't pawn her off on someone," he was quiet as he could be, but undoubtedly those around heard.

"Fine," Pansy glared at him in irritation, but he ignored the girl. He limped to the other side of the metal grate platform, stepping up beside where Kagome stood in front of the two Professors. He found that Jesse Potter was in the room. The man's clothes consisted of a dirty, light blue polo and a pair of blue jeans. He had grease smudges all over his face, bare arms, and clothes. For a moment, Draco wondered if there were no potions classes at that time but discarded the thought for the more pressing issue at the time.

"The two of you will demonstrate what, precisely, a real fight may look like," Professor Tetsuya indicated the open space behind him. There were two arches of metal like doorways, both of them about eight feet tall and three feet wide. They led into the open space. Metal objects in various shapes were in complete suspension out in random places. "What you see here is the Potter Dueling Arena, or PDA, as donated by Potter-san." He then indicated Jesse Potter who smiled winningly at the class. "Potter-san, if you will…?"

Jesse Potter strolled forward, two round, metal bracers in his hands. "What you are all about to witness is going to be unlike anything you have ever seen before. The PDA is not a toy, nor is it a game. When you use the PDA, you will face down deadly situations. There are endless possibilities to train yourself using the landscapes I have developed inside the PDA's magical memory bank." He handed one of the metal bracers to Professor Llywellyn who strapped it to his wrist.

"Just stay out of my way," Kagome said quietly, leaning over to him to hiss in his ear.

His eyes narrowed at her, recalling her pathetic struggle to live. "You'll fall before I do," he guaranteed her.

"How it works," Jesse Potter continued, careless to their minor argument with each other, "is a particular landscape is chosen from the magical memory bank on the panel there. Ilyes, if you wouldn't mind doing the honors?"

The elf strutted over to a panel that stretched almost five feet long with various knobs, roller balls, levers, switches, buttons, lights, and a small screen that almost looked like a small laptop monitor that the muggles Draco and Shiva stayed with had. He began flicking levers, turning knobs, rolling the cursor balls, switching switches, pushing buttons, and as he did so, panel lights would go on or off, change colors in all the spectrum of the rainbow, and the screen started to fill with color.

Professor Llywellyn stood up, turning malicious brown eyes on Draco and Kagome. Draco felt a chill go down his spine. The laugh Llywellyn let out was more of a mad giggle, and he said loud enough for the entire class to hear him, "Before we're done here today… the two of you are going to kill each other, and I'm going to enjoy it immensely."

"Ilyes, don't get carried away," Jesse Potter warned the man, even as the entire class felt unsettled. Draco was once again losing all color in his flesh as he felt too nervous.

Kagome looked nervous but resolute beside him. She whispered in his ear, "Feel free to resign; you'll just get in my way anyway."

He shot her a glare and she returned it full force.

"These," Jesse said, holding the remaining metal bracer to show the class, "are used to enhance a landscape with magic. For example, Ilyes is a Black Magic User. He activates his controller, and the landscape will enhance with Black Magic, thus giving him an advantage against his opponents who might not use Black Magic, and giving an advantage to any opponent who uses Black Magic. You'll learn more as you use the machine when you ought to activate your controller."

xXx

Harry felt cold at Llywellyn's declaration that Kagome and Draco would kill each other. Looking around him, he could see he wasn't the only one who was at least a bit worried. Of course, no one really thought that Llywellyn was serious, but there was that nagging feeling within their belts.

Harry watched the dark area beyond the rail begin to shift. The metal objects began maneuvering and shifting and reforming. The objects became pools of silver, stretching across the space and connecting seamlessly together. Strangely, the length of metal became an island out there. Walls seemed to grow out of that island, almost as if it were growing into a labyrinth similar to what Harry went through during the Triwizard Tournament. Three panels floated over toward the class, amazing everyone as they appeared to act like televisions, only what they saw on the panels Harry quickly noted appeared to be through Draco, Kagome, and Llywellyn's eyes.

Llywellyn looked excessively pleased. "Shut up, Jesse," he said, sauntering forward with brown eyes screeching insanity and a sick, twisted smile on his face. "These English freaks won't learn anything by listening to you talk. The only thing to help is when they're begging for an end to the pain."  
Sending a dirty look at Llywellyn, Harry's uncle said, "Death is only the beginning; when you fight, you must consider yourself as already dead. If you do not, you will be." He looked at Kagome and Draco. "Which of you will get the controller?"

"Me," Kagome said, before Draco could. She took the bracer, let her robe fall to the floor with her bag, and strapped the bracer on her arm.

xXx

For Kagome, having the controller meant having the ability to control her environment. She looked at the bracer. There was a clear stone embedded in the top of it, and for her, that stone turned yellow. For Llywellyn, that stone turned black. The stone correlated to their type of magic. The bracers knew what type of magic they were by the fact that Jesse was flipping specific levers on the control panel. When they were ready to affect their environment, they would push the stone and it would cause the environment to alter to be more beneficial for a person of that magical nature.

The purpose of altering the magical environment was because it had been found that an excess of magical influence in the area – the magical environment – could prove beneficial or hindering to the person inside that environment. The magical environment made casting certain spells easier or harder depending on what the environment was.

Llywellyn quickly crossed the rickety bridge to the entrance of the labyrinth, pushing the door open. Kagome shook her head and knelt down, setting her bag on the floor. She dug in the magically expanded insides, dragging out a quiver of arrows and her bow. She got to her feet and kicked the bag out of her way, amused as it tripped Draco who had just taken a step at that very minute by some accidental fate.

"Hmph." She smirked and made sure to walk on him as she went by; one step on his back, one on his head, and then for good measure she ground her heel on his hand as she passed, ignoring his indignant cry. "Who fell first?" she asked rhetorically.

She crossed hers and Draco's bridge into the maze. As she got inside, she saw the metal walls had ladders every fifty feet. She could feel the hum of magic around her with no surprise. Magic was very filling when it was in such high concentration like it was in a PDA. Kagome was amazed that Jesse Potter had donated the magical machine to a place like Hogwart's, but it would definitely help her in particular.

Kagome definitely loved being in a magical environment, listening to the hum of magic. Feeling the vibrations of it in her chest, as if it were a bass speaker on full and she lay on top of it, or being around when a train was going by and feeling the earth rumble. Many people didn't get to feel that; ancient men who spent their days locked away trying to meditate on their magic rarely felt that. Jesse Potter was a man who had brought magic and machine to the forefront with his brilliance.

It didn't matter if anyone else didn't understand that; Kagome did. She felt a sigh leave her as she reached out and touched the wall. Thanks to Jesse, ordinary people could feel magic in the same capacity that magical creatures could. But Jesse was an astonishing man himself…

She wondered about him as she moved forward, intent on being the first to find her professor and eliminate him.

Jesse was dark and mysterious… He'd been a friend of Inuyasha's father. But aside from being ridiculously brilliant and rich because of it, he was a nobody who had popped from seemingly nowhere. He was apparently related to Harry, but he wouldn't say how and from the way he treated Harry, it was very apparent the older Potter had little regard for the younger one. But who was he? Really?

The labyrinth, for all it was bare, also had a very dark and sinister feel to it.

xXx

Sesshoumaru turned to look at the floating panels of metal as Jesse got them up and running as viewing monitors. One looked out of Ilyes' eyes. One looked out of Kagome's eyes. One looked out of Draco's eyes. The remainder of the class would watch this debacle through their eyes of their peers and Ilyes. They'd watch the horror and be unable to do anything about it.

Sesshoumaru glanced over his shoulder at those students. He wasn't as bad as Ilyes was, but he would enjoy this immensely.

xXx

A record of my sixth year in Hogwart's, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In lieu of the fact that I may simply fade away or die this year at Hogwarts, I am writing this record so that my beloved little Shiva has an honest compendium of what I was in my time alive. You are the hand that pushes me forward, the flame that keeps my own candle burning. As such, you deserve to know the things I have to say to you.

To begin, I am Draconius Lucifer Malfoy. I am the heir to a long line of purebloods most noble. My family has never been sullied by the masses of half-breeds or mudbloods as others have been. This is why we Malfoy's are pure. I believe greatly that many families could take a hint from us and stop bringing the filth into the world.

At sixteen years of age, I am highly intelligent. I am five-feet-eight inches tall, and have hair kissed by the sun's rays. My eyes are the reflection of blue sky on water. My hands, long fingered and graceful as the rest of me. My skin is fair, my lips those of gods to women. I am beautiful; no one could possibly deny it. I certainly won't argue with the truth.

My skills with a wand and my magic are sharp. I have yet to perfect it, but already I am able to deflect some hexes wordlessly, and my goal for the end of the year is to shed the wand all together, even if it is my most prized possession apart from you.

This last Summer, our great and noble family has suffered some but I do not want you to ever think it was your fault. The blame lay solely on our father, but the details of that story is one I shall save for another day, when I have time to do it justice. Today you have chosen to ignore every blasted thing I tell you, so I have put you to bed with an early supper and you cry to me from your cradle in the corner of my dorm room.

I cannot bear to hear you cry, so I take you out of your cradle and you decide to curl up on my four-poster bed. I knew my Godfather Severus was wrong to suggest a firm hand with you. You are an angel. You're behaving, laying down to sleep like a good girl. I believe the excitement of the day was just too much for you; you had to get that energy out of your system.

There. You now sleep like the angel you are, and I have time to nurse my injuries left over from this summer and from today. My leg, injured this summer, has yet to heal. The circumstances of obtaining that injury I will leave for another day. Today's injuries, I will explain to you now.

Today began an ordinary day – or as ordinary as my life is willing to get these days. I did have hopes that you would not wake when I had to, but you did. I played that stupid muggle song for you on my violin. Every day I curse Mr. and Mrs. Palls for allowing you to hear that song. They were an alright sort, for muggles, but their taste in music for children was horrible. Never mind attempting to get you to listen to real music like Bach or Mozart or Chopin these days. You want Hampton the Hamster and some stupid thing called the Pretty Purple Donkey Girl. I've had my fill of the bloody Ileva's Polka.

Now its stuck in my head again and all I had to do was write the bloody name down.

This morning, you went to stay with McGonnagal. She pities me enough having to take you in my charge and through all we lived with over the summer, she didn't mind watching you for the morning. Thankfully you're an angel and well-behaved, or I can't imagine the old crone would watch any child.

It was a horrible class with Llywellyn as a teacher... he threw my books out one of his windows. I swear there is a location portal spell on each window, because the one he threw my books out of was overlooking an ocean. I mean, truly, I had done naught to deserve such horrible treatment. Am I not kind to my fellow students? Do I not aide them where they need it most? Am I to be punished for my good looks, excellent grades, or superiority?

I've sent off to Diagon Alley for replacement books; I hope they do as I asked and ship them immediately, although those wretches have a tendency to do anything they can as slowly as possible. If I was able to, I'd go there myself and pick them up. It would be faster if I could, but unfortunately at this time, it is hardly safe for me to do so.

Technically my first period class is Llywellyn's but I don't know how anyone could consider etiquette and manners to be a course I would need. Since I have no need of it, my first true course on Friday is actually Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Kikyou Sevina. I have a feeling that Sevina will be a good teacher, one who will be useful. Though Professor Umbridge had been a very delightful teacher last year and gave me wonderful privilege to torment my rival Harry Potter, Sevina will serve her purpose in other useful ways as this year my priorities have shifted a bit to accommodate your more prominent presence in my life. I can already visualize Potter going crazy trying to figure out what my ulterior motives are when I cause him less strife than usual though in truth I will be too busy focusing on caring for you and keeping my studies up so I remain a prefect and in line for the position of Head Boy.

My second course on Friday is an additional Defense Against the Dark Arts course with Professor Sesshoumaru Tetsuya. It is this man that is to blame for the blackened skin surrounding your eye. If killing wouldn't result in you being taken away from me, I swear I would have him writhing beneath my teeth and talons as his unholy life fluids seeped from his flesh.

I'll start from the beginning after lunch; this is the story I want to explain before I can allow myself to drift off to sleep. My mind doesn't want to focus on my classwork and sleep is a million miles away with as wired as I am over it.

After lunch, I took you to Professor Tetsuya's class. I don't know what I was expecting Tetsuya's class to be but I know I did not expect to find an entire PDA in the room. When you walk into the classroom, it is like walking out onto a balcony made of metal grates, and if you look down you find yourself staring into a gray abyss beneath the flowery wire of the grating. Those of my year-mates who dislike heights were looking anxious and trying not to look beneath their feet into the gloom below. I have no problem with heights. I love them, and the thrill of flying at break-neck speeds. It made me particularly emotional to have to quit Quidditch this year, knowing I can't take care of you, keep up my grades, _and_ join in the practices and games. But I had to make a sacrifice, and I would have given up ten times what I did to keep you near. It had been that old coot Dumbledore who gave me the choice. Still, I had enjoyed very much getting under Potter's skin as I purposefully staged a conversation about it with him near. Already I can sense him and the Weasel are stewing over what I am up to! It brings a smile to my face knowing I have power over him and his little troupe and I don't even have to really be up to something to have that.

I doubt anyone else seemed to realize what they did, but in Tetsuya's classroom since the class is a double house of Slytherin and Gryffindor, the students segregated themselves to either side of the room as if there were an invisible line and the Slytherins and Gryffindors dare not cross to the others' side. This is, of course, true enough for most. I'd rather not have to breathe the same air as some of these miserable wretches, but if we're to separate people, we should separate them properly. Kyle Marcus, for example. Though he is a Slytherin, he is yet another example of poor breeding. His father was a pureblood seduced by a wily mudblood who didn't know her place. It has made Kyle(who is Flint Marcus's cousin) feel entitled to a place in our world when the opposite is true. It isn't widely talked about, but hearsay has Kyle having been bitten by a werewolf. I couldn't say if this were true or not. Kyle Marcus is not someone I typically surround myself with.

The PDA, otherwise known as a Potter Dueling Arena, is the entire classroom we were in after lunch. It is a magnificent invention crafted by Jesse Potter. I don't like the man, myself, but I do admit to his genius. He claims to be related to Harry Potter, but everyone knows Jesse Potter was a Slytherin when he went to Hogwarts. I imagine Harry Potter's father must have been a bastard child to end up in Gryffindor, and that awful gene was handed down to his bastard child.

What we stood on, the metal grate balcony, was hardly a tenth the size of the great magical room. My mother had a PDA installed in our manor for my thirteenth birthday, but it was not nearly as majestic as the one that Jesse Potter "donated" to the use of Hogwarts. Our family is very wealthy (fifth wealthiest in all England's Magical Realm) but we could still never come close to affording this grand of an arena.

At the wall side of the metal grate platform was rows of old weaponry. I eyed one of the racks, spotting the signature engraving for PDI on the hilt of one of the blades. PDI is a prominent magical enhancement industry in Japan. They do the same sort of thing that Ollivander does – or rather, did prior to his death this Summer. Now his Grand-daughter Raven Ollivander runs his shop. Again, another story for another day.

"I have decided Kagome Higurashi and Draconius Malfoy will work together to overcome Professor Llywellyn."

Those words spoken by Professor Tetsuya sent chills down my spine. I swear Llywellyn is absolutely nutters, and if I never thought a teacher was a teacher purely to cause suffering to the youth of today, I was starting to think it _now_.

Jesse Potter tried to explain how we would utilize the PDA for the course of the school year, but he was cut off by that crazy house elf. He chose a landscape for the pseudo battle that was labyrinthine. Higurashi – Merlin I hate that bitch! – tripped me up and then stepped on me. She had the controller for the landscape and she ran off with it into the arena ahead of me. At the time, I didn't care that I was separated from her. Now I realize that Llywellyn was able to use our hate for each other against us. We were both the fool.

On I went into the labyrinth-like arena. The walls and floors were cold, hard metal. Every thirty feet, metal prongs stuck out like ladders to the top of the walls. I walked for so long, I swear my feet felt blistered. Time has no place in the arena; it felt like several hours, but in truth we were only in there thirty minutes. Dead ends turned me back, and sometimes I thought there was a wall where there was none, but should I have been surprised? Labyrinths are made to be that way, to trap you up and keep you there. I didn't even want to think how I would find my way back to the entrance of the arena. I'm good but miracles are saved for Gods.

Then, I rounded a corner. There stood Kagome Higurashi in her indecent school outfit, creamy tan thighs almost begging to be teased. As much as I hate her, I admit she has grown into an astonishingly beautiful woman. She doesn't have the small stature of a typical Asian woman. She's tall, standing at five-feet-six inches, with the angled eyes of a Japanese, but her eyes are such a deep, intense blue color I know she has to have European blood somewhere in her veins. Raven hair hangs down to her waist. It is such a shame she does not take care to her appearance. She would be far more attractive if she did. As is, she is as passable as the best slattern to work the upper rooms at the Hog's Head.

She disgusts me.

She blocked my passageway. "What do you want?" I asked her.

"You're in my way!" she said to me. Then, she raised her bow and shot at me with her arrows. They missed because I ducked back down the passage I just turned from.

She tried to oust me from the arena! Filthy slag-faced mudblood! Trollop! Whore! My wand is my favorite tool, but that was too good for her. Anger flooded my body. At the small of my back, I have taken to carrying a small blade. It is well crafted, made of the finest steel in the world and mined right in my beloved England. The steel itself comes from Sheffield, but the blade is PDI-made. It was a gift from my mother for my fifteenth birthday. This last summer, it saved my life when my wand was broken before I could get a new one. PDI-made weapons are capable of channeling magical energy; some of their weapons are designed to channel more than others, while others still are made to channel a specific amount in a particular fashion. My small dagger is capable of channeling less magical energy, but it's still very sharp and pointy.

Using my wand for revenge would be too swift. After all, I didn't have to worry about death in the arena. It's a part of Jesse Potter's genius; I don't know how he did it, but damage is entirely metaphysical once you exit the PDA. Oh, you still _remember_ the pain, but there is no physical evidence of it. It's like getting your arm lopped off, but not truly losing your arm. In the end, you have ghost pains.

I fully intended on killing her in the arena so she could suffer with the ghost pain of having her head taken off. I went back to find her. It took a while. At last I did. At last I had her in my sights. Too bad this is exactly what Llywellyn wanted. He did promise we would kill each other.

I was slow; my injured leg was still injured in the labyrinth. If only _that_ were a mere ghost pain. I waited for her around a corner. She approached slow, her whore body almost a dance with each step she took, those hips swaying like the gypsy sluts. Just as she rounded the bend, I slashed out at the bitch. I don't know how she did it, but she knew I was there. She skipped out of reach. My second slash bit into her bow; it had an iron core or the thing would have snapped.

"Couldn't finish the job six years ago, so you will now?" she asked me, her voice a growl like an angry dog. She swung the staff of her bow down at me; I praise Merlin and my good upbringing for good balance even on one leg. If I didn't have good balance, I would have fallen on my ass as I backed up to dodge.

"You started it." I don't know if I spoke of the incident six years ago or now, but in either case it was all her fault.

I took out my wand. I am ambidextrous, so it's not hard for me to operate with two weapons. I have always been better with my left arm, but our father was – particular – about the uses of hands. I had to learn to use my right hand; it was difficult, but as you can see I can now write impeccably with my right hand.

And my left – see?

Although if you see father's ghost, let's keep the fact a secret, shall we?

With the blade in my right hand, and the new wand Raven made me in my left (it sings, it's so happy to be used), I threw a _Confringo_ spell at her. _Confringo_ is a spell that causes whatever it hits to explode into flames. She fell into the splits – the wall behind her was hit instead. She had to roll away from burning hot, exploding metal.

I figured after I got rid of her from the arena, I would then go after Llywellyn. I didn't expect her to take such a low blow. She hit me in the thigh of my injured leg with an arrow. For as much as the injuries are metaphysical, holy Merlin it hurts like hell.

My next spell, _Conjunctivitis Curse_, hit her squarely before I ducked around a wall in the labyrinth. I heard her annoying screech of pain as it caused inflammation in her eyes. Again, metaphysical pain I assure you. I am not so stupid to do something I know I couldn't get away with.

I yanked the arrow from my leg; for all its metaphysical state, it _feels_ very substantial in the PDA. A credit to Jesse Potter. The blood felt real too. I almost bit through my lip to silence a cry as I tore it out. If I were to 'bleed to death' in the PDA, I would remember bleeding to death as the training session in the PDA ended for me. I would appear back on the platform. I remember this from my own PDA. I thought I was going to die when I cut my hand in it at home; mother made me sit and bleed and bleed until suddenly I was waking on a cot with the memory of the injury but no proof.

Don't get me wrong – Mother is a beautiful person, and I hope greatly that she wakes up at St. Mungo's and gets better… it's just that she has had her moments. I love her all the same, and so should you.

My kerchief I pulled from my pocket and bunched it up on my thigh, then I took my tie off and used that to secure the kerchief in place. Well, I wasn't about to let myself bleed slowly to death in the arena. Sometimes one experience is enough of something.

I could hear that Higurashi had cast a minor healing charm on her eyes. Healing charms are something I find to be particularly draining, and with my leg so pained it's all I can do to get up in the morning much less cast complicated healing spells. Not only that, but after the events of this summer, the doctors at St. Mungo's informed me my body has reached its limit of healing spells and must heal naturally now. I can only give aide with potions that will stave off infection while my body heals.

And then of all the things to go wrong, _you_ were there. Fucking Pansy had let you out of her sight, and where would you go? After me, of course. I would expect nothing less from you, my sweet pet, but this just caused me strife. There you were, bedazzling in a pink shift under a gauzy yellow gown, wearing the most adorable little pink stockings and brown slippers. If I live long enough, I'll have to beat off the suitors. You're going to be the greatest Malfoy of all – just as soon as I get you to stop chanting that you want to be in the Red House with Weasley. I truly had a heart attack when you stated you wanted to marry Weasley. For Merlin's sake, he's a blood traitor!

And our cousin!

Either way, you were in the arena with me.

I felt the entire place shaking terribly; my heart raced when I saw the floor of the labyrinth was collapsing, panel by panel, leaving nothing but gray expanse below. I don't mind heights – when I can _fly_. When myself and my princess are wingless, _then_ I have a problem. Five feet to a ladder on my right, but the floor beneath it was already collapsing away. Twenty five feet to get to a ladder on my left. I scooped you up; I don't know what happened to my dagger – it got lost somewhere in the rush of trying to bandage my leg.

The ground where I was running toward was then starting to lose its panels as well. I thought I wouldn't make it to the ladder, so my wand I bit in my teeth, I wrapped one arm around you, and I leapt for it. I nearly lost my grip on the rung; I'd forgotten that there were deep gashes in my left arm, and they broke open and pained me something fierce as I held on. I would _not_ let you have the feeling of falling to your death in your mind from when you're three. Damn Pansy!

Of course, I wasn't thinking; I stuffed my wand in my mouth and couldn't talk to you to tell you to stop screaming and squirming. Apparently heights are not _your_ thing but you were making it damned hard for me to fix our situation.

And now I am feeling the exhaustion deep within my bones. I think it is time to rest. I will finish this story tomorrow, if I can find time to do it. Saturdays are always pleasantly busy. As a prefect, I will make my rounds and take points from as many fool Gryffindors as I can. Yes, tomorrow will be a good day.


	29. Nells takes a captive

Title: Voldemort's Daughter

Author: Tsubasa Kya

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this tom-foolery.

Chapter 29: Nells Takes a Captive

Kagome finally had a chance to sit down and write a letter. With her and Inuyasha being on opposite sides of the world, sometimes coordinating the time to use the window he made was difficult. She did love the window, but thus far he was always sleeping when she was awake or one of them was off at class or doing something.

Instead, she realized she would have better luck talking to him using Kouga's letter-box. She was taking a leap of faith that Inuyasha would get the letter, but she really hoped so. Kouga and Inuyasha had always been awkward rivals but now they were dating so maybe he would... She decided not to think negatively. Surely Kouga had respect for her enough that Inuyasha would get the letter.

Sitting down in Slytherin house's women's bath, she set her paper on the side of the tub she occupied, set up her brush and ink plate, and carefully started writing so as not to get the parchment wet. She'd had plenty of fully ruined reports by working by the side of the bathtub back home, but she always felt the best place for privacy was in the bath.

_ Dear Inuyasha,_ she wrote, knowing the boy would become very frustrated over being called 'dear' but needing the personal salutation for her own sanity and the feeling of being close to him still. _Today, I am very tired, sore, and sweaty. I miss home more than ever._ Not only would calling him 'dear' annoy him, but expressing her heartfelt feeling of loneliness would make him angry – not at her, but at himself that he was unable to be there for her. Still, she would rather he knew, than pretend there was nothing wrong with moving to the other side of the world... It was better than pretend she felt nothing at the loss of her friends back home.

_England is much different than home. They do not have shoe mats or lockers in their homes or schools. They don't know, or if they know they don't care, that wearing shoes in the house is an invitation to bad spirits. I tried to take my shoes off and leave them at the entrance to SLYTHERIN house (where I am living) but they kept disappearing. I tried to leave them outside my bedroom door, but someone still stole them. I will know who took them now because I hexed a pair and left them and that pair is now gone. I don't like leaving my shoes in my bedroom. I think Sesshoumaru is annoyed because I needed five pairs in three days. He said I will now go barefoot if I lose this pair._

_ Classes are very different too. While at home, we get our normal classroom and teachers rotate to us, here it is the teachers who get assigned classrooms and we must locate them. I feel it wastes study time, although you would love it having to waste time to pack up books, go back to your room and find the other books you need, and then go to find your next class and arrange your things. I have been late to most of my classes because I keep getting lost. Have I mentioned the school is a drafty, ill-heated castle? I do not like it. _

_ Sometimes I feel very dumb because I ask questions that everyone seems to inherently know the answer to, but I do not. When I asked who Salazar Slytherin was, the entire breakfast table went completely silent and I was stared at as if I am stupid. There is a culture barrier and a knowledge barrier, because their entire history of magic is different from ours. _

She debated for a moment if she wanted to complain about Sesshoumaru and then ended up unable to stop herself. Inuyasha was her best friend, and she would complain until she was blue to him – even if it meant getting a few I-told-you-so's.

_Sesshoumaru is horribly mean to me. He adds on extra hours of practice. I must practice twice the amount of anyone else! I feel it should really be the other way around. Make these English types practice more. I'm trying not to complain... After this summer, I know I need to work harder than ever, but I wish I didn't... I want everything to go back the way it was... I miss you..._

Images flashed through her mind. Wide, brown eyes staring at her in fear. Eyes glazed over with death. And over top of it all... The terrifying color red bathing everything. Splashing walls, soaking the wood floorboards, cloaking the true color of -

Stop it, Kagome, she told herself, feeling a tear sliding down her face. She brushed it away and concentrated on the letter.

_I have many teachers. Professor Severus Snape is the only one I haven't really met except very briefly. He was here for a few minutes of class and then he talked to Draco Malfoy before running off. We were left with Jesse Potter (the same Jesse Potter as in our Bachelor-lock Weekly, and all those other 'girlie' magazines you make fun of me for reading at times). Professor Potter is very cool, although he picks on me (and I don't even know him). _

It would be best to just continue on as if nothing happened this summer. Yes, the best thing...

Except then why was she crying? It was hard to pretend her life didn't go to hell in a hand basket. She set the paper aside with the ink and brush, and dunked her head under the water. It helped her stop crying. When she emerged from the water, she glanced at her bag, where a little pink bobble on a strand of stone beads and creature fangs glared out at her. She grabbed the stone.

It was called the Shikon no Tama, or translated, the Jewel of Four Souls. Five hundred years ago, a woman of great, dark power created the Shikon no Tama to control canine demons and animals. After she had made the Shikon no Tama, Midoriko's daughter killed her mother and took the jewel, burning herself alive with it at the bottom of a dry well. The tales said that Midoriko's daughter did it to protect the jewel from anyone who would use it to do harm. Kagome wondered if anyone really knew the truth behind the stone.

She certainly didn't and she had been born with the thing inside her. She let it fall from her fingers into the tub, where it rested down on the bottom with an iridescent glimmer that quite frankly made her want to smash it and the responsibilities it brought with it to bits with as large a hammer as she could find.

She stayed in the bath until her fingers and toes had wrinkled, and then returned the Shikon no Tama to her neck. Wrapping a towel around herself, she slipped her feet into a pair of geta and headed back to her room. It was late enough, she didn't exactly expect to run into anyone.

Kagome should have known her expectations would be... foiled.

She was walking down the long, snake-like corridors, trying to remember left from right to get back to her dorm from Slytherin-house's women's bathroom, when she turned a corner and collided with none other than Kyle Marcus. Her pack tumbled to the floor, spilling out her bathroom supplies. She would have taken a fall too, if Mister Marcus hadn't caught her around the waist.

"You ought to be more careful," he told her, and she felt herself turning bright red. Here she was, not having expected to see anyone so she was in a towel, a pair of geta, and nothing more. What was worse, she had to run into Kyle Marcus. He just gave her the creeps, honestly. She wasn't certain what was greasier, his personality or the fire hazard that he called his hair.

"Yes, thank you," she tried to pull away from him, but he was having none of it. "Now if you don't mind," her brow furrowed in irritation, "let me go so I can be on my way."

He pushed her against the wall, pinning her there. She was trying to keep the towel from falling down. Note to self, bring clean clothes next time, Kagome thought.

"You're new here, so I'm going to be very clear as to how things work..." Great! A bully, and a bastard all in one. She was so lucky, wasn't she? After such a rough afternoon, too. "If you want to succeed in Slytherin, you need to have the right _friends_. And being _my_ friend would take you quite far. I wouldn't want you to hang out with the _wrong_ crowd... what sort of _friend_ would I be if I did that?"

"I must have missed something, because we aren't friends, Mister Marcus." she said firmly. Internally, she was flipping out because her towel was slipping and some weird, creepy bastard was greasing up her clean skin. Her brain was in a bit of a panic since she was pinned to a wall - and when that happened, she kissed goodbye all the years of spells she had learned. What good would they do her if every time it mattered, she froze up? Okay, so maybe not every _single_ time, but it happened enough to be noticeable.

Like... now, was a very good example. She didn't have her wand on her, because like an idiot she had put it in her pack and so it was on the floor. She had wandless magic, sure. But – brain – urk – wandless – what?

"I really think you should reconsider," said the grease-monkey. So her brain was okay with cracking jokes in the dire situation, but not with saving her rear end? She was _naked_ for Kami's sake! Naked! And it was a shitty situation to be in.

"Kagome, my flower blossom," she almost had a heart attack when Blaise's voice toned out. "I've been looking for you! Marcus, thanks ever-so-much for finding her for me, I'd be so lost without her." Blaise's steps came forward, and Marcus pulled back, holding his hands up as if in surrender as he backed away from Kagome. He stumbled a bit on her plastic shampoo bottle.

"Just helping out a friend." he said, plastering a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Thanks again, I'll see her back to her rooms." Blaise said tightly.

Marcus continued backing up until he had turned a corner and then they heard steps receding. Kagome let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. "Arigatou gozai- I mean, um, thank you, so much..." she tried shifting her towel back in proper place.

"Here, you look cold." he took his robe off from over his uniform, draping it with a dramatic flair over her shoulders, and she couldn't help but giggle. "What is that towel made of, silk?" he demanded. "I can see your ni-" she elbowed him. "Sorry – I forget you're not Chavi."

"How can you forget that? I'm not wearing ridiculous heels and my hair is quite an opposite color. Besides, she's got an amazing body, and I-"

He flicked his wand at her bag, and everything except her wand returned to the bag. Bending over, Blaise grabbed both bag and wand. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my dear. I, myself, have a fancy for women of your," his eyes lit on her chest, as though he were using x-ray vision to see through the robe and the towel, "nature..."

"...I don't think I'm going to even dignify that with a response," Kagome could feel her face heating up. "And honestly, I don't think I even get what you mean." She was glad to have him there to walk her back to her room. She didn't want to run into Kyle Marcus again.

He didn't explain himself, instead he just grinned and changed the subject. "Why were you walking around in a towel anyway?" he asked. "Don't you think that's a bit risqué? Down here, you're practically begging for trouble."

"I was fine..." she argued weakly.

"Darling, anything to do with Kyle Marcus is everything except 'fine'. Don't trust him. He'd skin his baby alive if it made him a knut."

"He has a baby? Someone actually let him-"

"It's a figure of speech..." He stopped at her bedroom door.

Kagome found her key in her bag, and opened it. "Thanks again, Blaise..." she said, feeling embarrassed.

The black man was unconcerned by her embarrassment and thrust past her into her room without so much as a what-for. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't lying when I said I was looking for you. I have questions, and I want answers." She let out a sigh as he made himself comfortable (quite excessively comfortable, in fact) on her bed, and let the door swing shut.

She walked over, snapping the curtains shut on her four poster bed. "No peeking," she told him, moving over to her trunk.

"You like to take the fun out of things, don't you?" His voice was light and teasing. She quickly pulled on a bath robe and panties so at least she had _something_ on. Never, ever again would she assume that just because it was late, no one would be awake.

"Okay, I'm... more decent than before." she offered, and barely seconds later, the curtains were thrown open, and Blaise was looking at her while lounging on her pillows. She towel dried her hair, looking at him. "Are you always so brass?" she wanted to know.

"Mostly, always," he shrugged as if it were no difference to him. "Now... what the _hell_ happened today?" The joking demeanor had disappeared as he looked her over. She bore no physical witness to what happened in that Arena, but he had seen... every Slytherin and Gryffindor had seen.. _something_. But they still weren't sure... _what_. "You're not getting away with saying nothing... Not after that."

Kagome sat nervously at the edge of her bed, looking at her hands as if they held the answer. She wished there was some kind of already prepared speech she could give. She was one week into the school-year and already felt like she had lived a year.

"I guess... the best place to start is the beginning..." she offered.

"Good place to start," he drawled.

"Well... Centuries ago, a witch called 'Midoriko'-" she began, only to get an exasperated sigh out of Blaise.

"Higurashi, if you don't tell me what the hell is going on between you and Drake, I'm going to throw a fit." he interrupted her. "Don't try to side-track me with history, because I know that what happened today had nothing to do with a bloody ancient witch."

She turned bright pink. Oh, was that all he wanted? Well, what he didn't know... wouldn't bite her in the ass later. She hoped. "Oh, sorry... Guess, I couldn't fool you..."

"Please, darling, I'm a _Slytherin_. What do you take me for?"

"Yes... sorry... anyway..." Although she didn't have to talk about the Shikon no Tama, her history with Draco was almost as sensitive. She tried to think of a way to talk about it, without actually revealing anything incriminating that could affect Draco; why she bothered, she didn't know. Perhaps it was because she didn't want to be the cause of Draco's early, and rather untimely demise? "Well, did you know Malfoy and I went to the same primary school?"

"Yes, that much has been made abundantly clear."

"He didn't make a very good first impression... We met that first time on the train when we were four... I still remember it. I had bumped my head trying to get the cabin door open, and I took great offense when he didn't ask if I was okay... Stupid, really... Very childish. He needed a place to sit because his parents hadn't helped him on the train. We fought; me trying to keep him out of the cabin, and him just determined to sit in it." She fiddled with the sleeve of her robe, remembering the day. Blaise was listening quietly, not asking questions or interrupting. If she didn't know better, she would have called him a statue, for as much as he moved while she spoke.

"...Heh," she let out a bitter half-chuckle. "I still don't understand why things got so bad... But I'm stubborn, and so is he... maybe that was the problem all along? We determined to hate each other, and from then on, there was no questioning it... The grade years were full of name-calling and hair pulling and all-out fights. I never understood why he never made friends either, but when I got into fights with Malfoy, my friends were always there to back me up. He had no one... So much of him remained a mystery, but I probably confused him just as much..."

"He probably knew he would be coming to Hogwarts..." Blaise spoke up, his voice soft.

"Yeah... he said something like that, when I asked why..." she agreed, remembering that day on the train. He'd said he saw no reason to associate with those who were beneath him. She remembered the rose he gave her for her father's death... the tears she shed at last... and what he wanted to be when he grew up... _Alive..._

"But hair pulling and name calling... that doesn't seem to add up to the animosity between you two..."

"With him, nothing ever makes sense... To him, I'm just a mudblood whelp..." Blaise's eyes went wide for a second in surprise, before he tried to cover up his shock as things began to make more sense.

"Wasn't your mother a witch and your father a wizard?" he asked. "You told me on the train..."

"Yes, legally. But, honestly...? I don't have a clue who my real parents are. For as much as I know, they could have been a hamster and a house elf... okay, perhaps... not that unknown..." she blushed, feeling a knot coiling in her stomach at the look he was giving her. She couldn't read his expression. Was that bad? She didn't know. "They were definitely human... I just... don't know who they were, and it's sort of a sensitive subject... I was just a few months old when I was adopted, and so my family had been the only ones I ever knew..."

"So... you mean, your family... they could have been muggles?"

"I know my father's name, and that my mother was abused by her older boyfriend... She ran away from him with me, and I ended up on..." she felt that knot in her stomach getting tighter. Kagome hugged herself, wishing the dungeon house wasn't so cold... "I ended up adopted... And its so easy to criticize someone for not knowing their heritage, or for being adopted, or teasing them for it... But when you're on that end.. When you are the one with no idea where you came from or who you are... it hurts. The very idea that my father was abusive to my mother makes me question whether I am... good... or will I be evil? Can anyone even... _imagine_... what that is like? Not knowing?"

Blaise shifted, reaching out for Kagome. He wrapped his arms around her, questioning himself the whole time. She could be a mudblood! And he was touching her... But fuck it, he thought, because he literally _kissed_ a mudblood earlier that day. Sure, he had only done it to see Granger's expression, but still...

Maybe Blaise could be certain he was a pureblood, but what he couldn't be certain of was... who his father was. The concerns she spoke aloud were ones he had, at some point or another, come across in his own pondering. "I can imagine exactly what that is like," he said. And though he felt there was a piece missing of the puzzle that was Kagome and Draco's distressed relationship (if it could be called that), he dropped the subject. Draco was indeed known for his opinions... Groomed by Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, no less, Draco was sure to never feel any lost love over someone who was a mudblood...

But in Blaise's mind, he determined there was no proof Kagome was a mudblood and until that proof was provided, Blaise could keep faith that the hat had placed Kagome where she was supposed to be.

Blaise let the girl fall asleep in his arms and then lay her down, covering her up. Her cat peered at him lazily before rolling over. Blaise left her there. He had some things to think about…

When the door had closed, there was a sudden voice, "You can stop faking it now."

Kagome shifted, rolling on her back to stare up at the canopy. "Hi, Inuyasha..."

"What the hell was that all about? You were acting like a bitch on her rag." She shrugged. "Hey, you never let me shut you out in all our years, so don't turn your back on me now. Tell me what's going on in your head." he demanded.

Finally she looked at him. It was true enough what he said. In their years knowing each other, she knew Inuyasha was working through depression. She always tried to be there for him, and now should be no different. She couldn't push him away because it would only worry him more than knowing the truth. She could play Blaise for a fool, make him think she was a silly little girl with silly little problems... but she couldn't play her best friend like that.

Getting up out of bed, she pulled her robe closer around herself. A thought passed through her head, _had he seen her naked?_ before it was discarded. Dragging her desk chair over to the window he had painstakingly crafted, she sat down beside it, leaning on the sill. "Just weeks ago, my family died and its my fault." she admitted at last.

His silver eyebrows literally sprung into his hairline. "What are you talking about? You can't be blamed for that!" he told her. "A crazy freak wanted-"

She interrupted him, rubbing her cheek with one hand and feeling the exhaustion seep into her bones. "It is, and I'll tell you why. I was dating that crazy freak for months before it happened... This summer, I invited him to stay at the shrine. I brought him into the house my family lived in." Shock was written all over his face. It worsened her guilt. "If I hadn't, it would never have happened. Now, I'm here, and as if to add salt to the wounds, 'here' is where Draconius Malfoy is. Sesshoumaru paired Malfoy and me together against Professor Llywellyn in the PDA, and I thought... how bad could it be?"

"Hey," his voice was soft. A tender quality that only seemed to exist when the two of them were alone, and one of them were distressed. Truly he was her best friend. "Malfoy was a bastard in primary, and he's still a bastard now, I know it. And you – you can kick his ass in no time."

"That's just it! I can't. We were in the PDA. It was a metal labyrinth. I thought I'd be better off if I went ahead; as if Malfoy's lack of experience with the PDA would slow me down... And I was there, and he attacked me. He tried to kill me with a slash-cut spell. He was chasing off, and I went after him. When I ran into him again, I asked if he was trying to finish off what he started six years ago, and he tried claiming I started it! Then he tries blowing my head off with an explosion spell, and hits me in the face with with a blinding spell. Sure, I was shooting arrows at him too, but he had tried to attack me first earlier and take me out of the running. Well, then he must have taken off while I was healing my eyes, because he was gone so I ran looking for him again."

"I told you he'd be up to no good. The bastard. But don't you worry, I'm working hard to learn that wretched language, and I'm going to transfer over."

She smiled briefly, looking at how serious he was. It warmed her heart to see him so passionate. If he really did manage, she would kiss him. Or maybe tell Kouga to kiss him, if they were still together. "Thanks, Inuyasha..." He blushed, and she gave him quick reprieve from the embarrassment at affection by continuing. "Anyway, then I ran into Llywellyn, and he shoved me against a wall and I was trapped. I couldn't think, I barely think I breathed at all. There I was, and his eyes were so cold... so full of spite, and disgust toward me..."

"Yea?" there was little Inuyasha could do but be supportive at the moment. He was all the way on the other side of the world talking to her through an enchanted window. She wished he were beside her. "You're not disgusting though. Messy, maybe, but I'm that too."

She let out a weak giggle. "He activated my bracer..."

_ Her heart raced. Those cold, brown eyes were staring at her. Grin on his face, he ran his hand down her body from neck to her wrist. She was shaking. Her ears were ringing. Her face felt hot, but she was frozen. _

"He did? But that's dangerous... your human body can't handle it like others with their normal magic..."

"Maybe it was a lesson to learn. I'm using Arcane magic. I shouldn't be so hasty. I mean, I've used the PDA plenty of times with Arcane magic active in it, but this time it was different... Corrupt, or maybe just in a frenzy... I don't know... like the confusion and disappointment and heartache I feel after this summer... like it was drawing on that..."

"Maybe he's a dick and you gotta stop being so damn hard on yourself. What did you do when he had you pinned? How'd you get out of it?" Inuyasha was eager to know, and almost ready to hop a broom and try to make it through international travel. Unfortunately, a broom wouldn't fly him as far as China, much less all the way to England.

"That's just it..." she turned to face him, dark blue eyes clashing with the amber orbs of her best friend. "I didn't escape. When he activated the bracer, the environment started to change. The place started just... _shaking_... like an earthquake... and the ground tiles were collapsing. He just, let me go and hurried to get on the nearest ladder to the top of the labyrinth walls. When it all started, he had promised that Malfoy and I would kill each other, and it went just like that."

"From the sounds of it, this PDA is much more advanced than our school's... The environment never literally shifted itself after being created. It was always solid." Inuyasha said. He shifted to get himself a little more comfortable on his bed. "It just changed areas where magic is, giving territory to the users."

"This one took the floor right from under my feet. I had to hurry to get to a ladder; I'm sure Mister Potter has some kind of safety net in case someone should fall off the environment, but I didn't want to chance it. When I realized if I stood there too long, I'd fall, I went to the ladder and climbed up. Darkness hid everything that was twenty feet away behind or in front of me on top of the wall, so now that I was up there, it wasn't like I could see where my enemies were. The only comfort was that I knew Llywellyn and Malfoy couldn't see me either."

"That's a small comfort. I really don't like the fact that you're over there. Just get Sesshoumaru fired from his job; he'll have to come running back home and you'll be two steps behind him."

"Yeah well I don't like it any more than you do, but I can't keep running for the rest of my life… I just wish standing still wasn't so hard…" She shook her head.

Inuyasha looked guilty at the suggestion and his ears pressed against his silver mane. "Yeah.. sorry…"

"It's okay…" There was a few moments of silence between them, and then she continued the story of what had happened that afternoon. By then, it was more important just to get the damn thing off her chest. She couldn't bear its weight much longer. "I heard a child screaming, Inuyasha…" she felt the hot tracks of tears running down her face. She abruptly got to her feet, tearing the necklace over her head and whipping it across the room. In retaliation, the rough action tore some of her hair out and took it with the necklace. "I hate this stupid thing! I hate it!"

Alarmed, Inuyasha did his best to calm her down. "Kagome, it's okay, don't freak out!" He wasn't the best at it. Usually he just wrapped her in his arms and let her beat it out on his chest until she tired. He couldn't do that this time.

"Eight billion people in the world! Eight _billion_ and I'm the one who ends up with that stupid, wretched thing! Because of it, I can hear a little girl screaming!"

"What little girl? Kagome, you're not making sense. What little girl?"

Kagome swiped her tears away angrily. "Malfoy's sister, Shiva."

If it was possible for him to be more surprised, he was. "I remember you mentioning her, but damn, what is a little girl doing in the PDA?"

"As it turned out, _Sesshoumaru_ purposefully sent her in after Malfoy!"

"He did _what?_" Inuyasha gaped at her after that stunning admission.

"You heard me. He sent a _three year old toddler_ after us in the PDA. Yeah. And when the tiles were falling from under everyone's feet, she was screaming at the top of her lungs in terror, with no idea what was going on or why it was happening. So I rush to find her having only sound to go on and a limited vision range, and she and Malfoy are hanging off a ladder by just his arm and he's slipping and when I show up he's—"

Inuyasha waved his arms frantically. "Hang on, hang on! Take a breather, before you suffocate on all that talking!"

She panted, and took a slow breath in and then out. "I'm sorry…"

"Its okay, just go slow so at least I can understand you…"

"Right…" She rubbed her face again, sitting down from her pacing before she wore a track in the floor. "Anyway… I rushed there and I practically had to fight Malfoy just to help him get her up. Neither of us wanted her to get hurt. But Professor Llywellyn had other plans. He found us right when we had gotten back on the relatively safe wall. For whatever reason, while we were catching our breath, Shiva ran to greet Llywellyn, and he grabbed her. He held her by the back of her dress over the dark chasm and demanded we kill each other or he would drop her. And he said if one of us survived, he'd still drop her, so we had to make sure the other would die. He's horrible, I mean, why would he do that?"

Inuyasha shook his head. He had no answer for that either. "So what'd you do?"

"What do you think? I couldn't let her get hurt, Inuyasha…"

**Took me a while to finish this. I hope it isn't a disappointment! Please let me know what you think! I can promise the next chapter is longer.  
**


	30. Harry takes a bath

Title: Voldemort's Daughter

Author: Tsubasa Kya

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this tom-foolery.

**Warning: Mild adult references and content. **

Chapter 30:

Harry was half dragging his satchel as he climbed through the hole behind the portrait of the Fat Lady who faithfully blocked the Gryffindor home from intruders. It was incredibly late and he wasn't entirely sure he even had bones, much less feeling them. What the _hell_ was he thinking, having a Quidditch meeting on the first bloody Friday after school started? He should have waited the two weeks into the school year like the rest of the houses did. He'd only been on the team for the last five years, he should have realized there was probably a very valid reason for the time-delay before Quidditch practice season started.

Needless to say, everyone was too tired to even look at a broom without feeling the urge to pass out, so they'd pretty much made the executive decision to sit in the Gryffindor locker-room and spend the next hour bitching over what a hellish week it had been. Ginny had determined that Harry's shoulder would make a good back-rest, and Ron's legs a good leg-rest. Both Harry and Ron were simply too exhausted to complain that the youngest Weasley had done so.

Even throughout the complaining session, Harry had found himself unable to stop _thinking_. Thinking was turning into a bad thing to do these days, as all he ever thought about was his godfather and how Harry caused his death (nice one, Harry, _brilliant_), Voldemort and what he was up to (he was planning something; he'd wanted the orb in the Department of Mysteries for something), figuring out what dastardly deeds Malfoy was up to (the bastard was a Death Eater in training, no doubt), the two D.A.D.A. Professors (well, he liked Professor Sevina, but Professor Tetsuya was a sick bastard for sure), Professor Llywellyn ('nuff said, the man was simply in his own category, plane, dimension, UNIVERSE), and what the hell was a little girl (cute as a button and crazy as all hell) doing in Hogwarts?

These thoughts aside, Harry James Potter found himself brooding over another thing. _Girls_. Yes, Girls, even the one who had leaned on his shoulder that night in the locker-room. There was something vastly wrong with the universe that it would give Harry all this shit to deal with, on top of apparently being some kind of prophetic 'chosen one' and some half-snake-man fucking up his adolescence by using some crazy mental connection formed when a killing curse "magically" went wrong because of "love". Piddle. And good old Harry Potter got to deal with the usual puberty issues that every other _normal_ teenage boy got to deal with. Puberty, and raging horomones.

He realized as he dragged his heavy feet toward the staircase that he had never really been that normal. His family was abusive to the point where he'd had to resort to threatening them with magic sometimes just to keep his ears from being boxed in, and his glasses pounded into his eyes. He recognized the fact that with them as abusive, he had taken to bottling his issues because he hadn't been allowed to talk to anyone about the frustrating home life he had, and had no friends to play the therapist during his childhood. Dumbledore in his infinite wisdom placed him in a muggle home, left him on a bloody doorstep in the middle of the night no less, and one that was sure to do him more harm than good because Aunt Petunia hated magic and every bloody thing to do with it, and her husband only echoed that hate like a ten-times magnifying mirror.

Complaining? Yes, he was complaining, mentally and emotionally. Hurray, no one cared. Except the fact that if he _did_ complain, _everyone_ would care. Because everyone gave a flipping damn about Harry James Potter. And why? Because Harry James Potter was the chosen one. The gods-forsaken boy-who-lived. Really, it was probably just because the underworld decided it didn't want Harry. He wasn't good enough to die, so it tossed him back. It had nothing to do with 'love' sparing his life, or some rampant prophecy orb that apparently labeled Harry as the arch-nemesis of some fifty-year-old has been. It had everything to do with a fucked up psychopath and a slimy worm breaking into his parents house and murdering them.

He still had nightmares of it too; his dad screaming 'run', his mother crying 'spare my son'. And half the time, the fear of the dreams wasn't Voldemort anymore either. It was Harry, and it was so fucking vivid. He didn't always use the killing curse. Sometimes the variables changed in the dream. Sometimes Harry shot his parents. Sometimes he stabbed them to death.

Okay, officially, Harry needed a therapist. Yes, he recognized that fact. He was as fucked up as they came. But in spite of that, the world still painted his picture in gold and Colin Creevey apparently had a side-gig this year selling pictures of Harry... that had come up in the locker-room, and neither Harry, nor Ron had the _energy_ to get upset over the fact that Creepy Creevey was starting up an illegitimate porn business. At least tonight anyway; who knew if tomorrow they'd fly off the handle when they remembered that Creevey was making money off of naked pictures.

Really, life was just too tiring. Maybe he could recycle his life for a better one? No, even that sounded like too much effort. And it wasn't like he hated his life _that_ much. He usually liked it.. Sometimes it just got the better of him, that was all.

As Harry wrestled his clothes off and fell into bed, he thought that even _thinking_ was too much effort. But against his better judgment, the thoughts poured in. His mind backtracked to the insane afternoon with the crazed professor Tetsuya. There was no way the guy was sane; a sane person didn't tell a tiny tot to go into a magical fighting arena (as it had been thoroughly explained to be).

That was what he fell asleep thinking about, and what influenced his dreams. Only this dream wasn't a dream at all. It was a memory. A frightening memory that characterized Harry's personality and exactly how fucked up he was. And if he wasn't fucked up _now_ he certainly would be _later._

Professor Sesshoumaru Tetsuya's classroom was vast, expanded magically because there was no way the room could fit in Hogwart's tower classroom without some kind of magic behind it all. Due to the enormity of the room, it was also rather cold in there. He and Ron were among the first ones to show up, and being like any other testosterone driven male, they migrated to the wall of large, sharp, pointy objects to admire them. These swords hung on racks and they were more than cool. Ron and Harry were quietly (or as quiet as two crack-voiced teens could be in an echo-y chamber) wondering amongst themselves whether they'd get to use those cool swords.

Then, as suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch, there was a noisy clang. The two teens jumped, startled, and turned to see that Professor Tetsuya had one of those sharp, pointy objects in his hand and it was point down on the grate like he'd just swung it with everything he had in him. The ring of the metal on metal was still echoing through the chamber.

And what do you know? The other one there was Professor Llywellyn, the nutcase from the forest. Well, both boys had already surmised that someone would try to kill the man, but both had been wrong to think he'd be hexed or cursed. Professor Tetsuya was just outright attempting to slice the man from gullet to groin. Ick, that would _hurt._ And no matter how many zombie movies Harry had to listen to coming from in Dudley's room, it wouldn't be cool or awesome to see the guts spill out of the jangling man.

They watched Professor Llywellyn grab a long handled hammer and the teachers spoke to each other in their native tongue. Harry wished he could speak more than the few words he'd been able to learn over the summer (Kon'nichiwa, watashi no namae wa Haridesu) although he might have that wrong, but he was so sure that he was right on the whole 'Hi, my name is Harry.' Since he knew very little, he couldn't say he understood them and they continued fighting, hammer against sword.

That of course was when the sword broke Llywellyn's defense and left a tiny bleeding scratch on bare skin, but if the unique teacher had not backed up, he would have certainly been spilling his guts all over the place.

So, Harry being the fool that he was, determined that the cold voices, sneered foreign words, and sharp objects were not toys to be played with. He stupidly took out his wand and Expelliarmus'd them both. What an _idiot_ he'd been. As the teachers hit with the hastily shot spells went tumbling and their weapons went flying into the abyss beyond the grates, Harry soon found himself leveled with terrifyingly pissed off glares. Not that Harry had the right sense of mind to do the proper thing and run away screaming, no, he was sort of too stupid to do anything like that.

Ron took out his wand, stubbornly willing to defend his best mate. Both students took little comfort in the ideal that teachers ought not hurt their students because...well, they had a bad history of teachers attempting to hurt and/or kill them by that point, so the ideal that teachers were safe was just that... an ideal, that didn't mesh up to par.

Bless Ron, seriously. Harry would love the other teen forever. Ron did question Harry sometimes, but never on his stupidity, no. No, Ron Weasley just went along with it. It was Hermione's job to question that.

Where was Hermione when his idiot brain was working overtime at producing stupidity?

Well, she wasn't there, and _clearly_ that meant the intelligence of the golden trio was gone. They had heart, and body, but no brain!

"Stop!" Harry told them, his voice failing to sound properly horrified by what he'd done. Perhaps there was some mental block that kept him from realizing that he was a moron until long after the fact? Dreaming about it, he could see his actions were probably the most fucked up they could get.

After that, it was a surprise to Harry that he survived the murderous intent of the teachers. He certainly wasn't good in their eyes; he wasn't the great and wonderful Harry Potter for "magically" killing Voldemort, so maybe that was a good thing that came out of this?

On second thought, the look in their eye proved probably not.

Still, he had survived that to dream about it, right? In a sense...

Professor Tetsuya's gold eyes bore holes in Harry's soul. It was disconcerting, but Harry was numb to the fact that he should by all rights be scared of this foreign magical creature. Humans did not have gold eyes, or pointed ears, or odd marks on their faces. Humans didn't have an ethereal beauty. Maybe Harry wasn't human, because he was stupid and unafraid?

"Stop it!" Harry repeated firmly. They didn't need to fight. Not here. Not now.

And certainly not on his watch!

"Stop..." Professor Tetsuya murmured as if he couldn't believe what his ears heard the boy say. Those eyes narrowed, and then the professor raised his hand, two fingers up as if to flip the bird to Harry. However, normally flipping someone the bird didn't include a swing of an arm and some fluorescent green whip-like line of magical energy following after, cutting through the air and then smacking Harry's wand out of his hand. Harry watched the new wand fly in dismay for barely a second, surprised that energy hadn't sliced it in half, before just as fast as it had happened Harry was pinned uncomfortably to the rack of swords with a hand squeezing his throat and his feet dangling uselessly.

Harry was pretty pissed by this. He and Ron both had little faith in the idea of their teachers being 'safe' (well, they did have Snape for a teacher after all). This further proved the validity of their feelings.

"Oi! Let Harry go!" Ron said, wand aimed at Sesshoumaru's head.

He barely got to finish his demand before the door opened and someone cleared their throat. Harry was dropped in time to wheeze and cough in fresh breath. Damn, he hated when people tried to choke him.

Looking over at his savior, Harry was surprised to see it was Jesse Potter. He hadn't gotten the idea that Jesse really cared much for him, but maybe it was true what they say: family is family, no matter how much you hate them.

"Come now, Sesshoumaru, you really ought not hurt your students." Jesse chided the professor. "Others will be arriving soon and how will it look if you kill their very special celebrity?" Harry didn't like the dark chuckle that Jesse gave.

"Harry, you okay?" Ron asked, helping Harry stand up after Professor Tetsuya walked away.

"Yeah, Ron. I'm fine, I just get a real bad feeling about this…" Harry replied.

Ron nodded, "Yeah, mate, he's worse than Umbridge already!"

"Yeah…" Harry kept his wary and suspicious eyes on the teacher as he went for his precious new wand across the metal grating. It was odd that with three adults present, one of them would get away with choking Harry (even holding him right off the ground with one arm, which had to take some major arm strength) with no repercussions.

Ron joined Harry at his side once more as the doors began to open to admit students. So much for wanting to get to class early; they should have skipped, but D.A.D.A. had always been their favorite class. They'd wanted to do well in it. Not only that, but it would save their lives again and again each time they met up with Voldemort, the man who wouldn't fucking stay dead.

Ron whispered, "I bet Dumbledore's lemon drops are laced with Cackleberry Potion."

"Cackleberry potion?" Harry had never heard of it.

"Yeah, you know... Bill says Cackleberry Potion makes you think stupid decisions are brilliant. And hiring this guy was obviously not a smart choice..." Ron pointed out.

Harry looked down at his wand, rubbing a finger along the smooth crimson wood as he thought about that. Dumbledore had made a lot of stupid decisions, determining them to be for Harry's "good". How was being tossed into a cupboard under the stairs for ten years good? Harry lived the life of a house elf, and sure, that was pretty damn humbling... He didn't feel high on publicity or anything... The wizarding world was now a place where Harry had valued friends and family, and even still, anyone who didn't fit in that category was someone to be wary and suspicious about.

The teen's eyes narrowed. He wasn't strong enough if it took his teacher less than five seconds to render him helpless... He rubbed his neck. He had to work harder. As cliché as it felt, Voldemort wasn't going to be as nice as letting some other person stop him when he got his hands around Harry's neck.

Harry looked up from his position crouched on the ground in time to find himself looking up … a skirt. Shit. Hormonal teen boy looking up ridiculously sexy girl's skirt. How was that NOT a bad idea? He hastily reeled back and followed the skirt to the owner's face. Double shit, those very sheer black panties were fucking hot, and who the hell did they belong to? One very amused Slytherin girl who apparently lived to torment Harry and Ron.

Standing up, he hastened to apologize but it came out in stammers and his face was so hot with embarrassment (and oh-fucking-god, he saw a girl's panties! A girl!) that he could hardly get anything out.

"Didn't you like what you saw, Harry?" Oh dear gods, even in the dream her voice had him in a stir. Chaviah Melody... it was such a beautiful name, but who? Who was she? Her blond hair fell in ringlets about her face, so perfect that he wanted to reach out and – and what? He didn't know.

"Oh-, um, no, I mean, yes you've got very nice panties, I mean, not that I was looking, I mean, I saw, but I wasn't..." Oh fucking bloody hell, just _Avada Kedavra_ him already and end this painful moment in time. He couldn't even escape it in his dreams. Dreams were supposed to be frivolous and fanciful, but Harry's dreams involved snakes attacking Arthur Weasley, Sirius being tortured at the hands of Voldemort, and beautiful blond haired Slytherins taunting and tempting him like the proverbial snake did Eve.

Melody laughed quietly, reaching to put her hair up in a pony-tie. This act stretched her shirt across her already tight breasts. He heard Ron squeak and he finally noticed Blaise Zabini.

"Chavi, my sexy love, it looks like we've found our secret weapon against Gryffindors..." the black man chuckled.

Harry tossed and turned, unable to remain asleep. Damn it. He stared up at the blurry ceiling; should really look into getting contacts, but that would still not do him a hell of a lot of good since he wouldn't be able to see upon waking... That, and he fell asleep with his glasses on so much. It wasn't good to fall asleep with contacts in.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Even without his glasses he could tell it was very late. The snores of his dorm mates floated about the room and made him wish he could sleep properly like the rest of them. Harry on the other hand had way too much on his mind to sleep.

His hand slid around the bedside table for his glasses. When he found them not there, he realized he'd fallen asleep with them on (again) and located them on his bed. He'd managed to sleep until five am, and though his body felt like shit and he could feel everything about him groaning over being used he didn't really feel like going back to sleep over the nightmares he would have. Instead, he got up and started gathering his bath bag. He put on pants and a tee-shirt, tugged on yesterday's used socks (uniquely mismatched knit socks from Dobby), and grabbed his wand. Might as well start the day out with a nice shower.

He planned to use the Gryffindor tower men's shower room, but when he got inside he saw Colin Creevey was apparently an early riser and was already in a shower. Ordinarily it might not have phased Harry, but the news that Colin made money off of Harry's nude body caused him to turn around and decide to make the full trek down to the fifth floor for the prefect's bathroom. After all, what good was it to as Hermione put it, "Have equal status with prefects," if he didn't take advantage of the bathroom that came along with it? Hermione claimed he could also take points from students for errant behavior but he knew already that he wouldn't bother. Besides, a soak would do his achy muscles good.

He was half dragging his feet again by the time he arrived. Giving the password to the door blocking his way, "Pine Fresh," (it wasn't regularly changed so it was the same he'd used in fourth year) he hobbled his way inside. Had he been paying attention, he would probably have realized the idiocy and danger he put himself in by not checking his surroundings. He turned on all the taps in the large pool, taking off his tee-shirt and depositing it carelessly on the bench. Shoes, boxers, and ratty jeans followed. A second later he was lowering himself in the sudsy pool.

He was able to sit and reminisce further about the new Defense classes as he let the heat of the water sooth his aches and pains. Eyes closed (not wanting to know if Moaning Myrtle was hanging about, even if that wasn't top priority in his mind) he tipped his head back against the tiles, resting on one of the giant bath's seats along the edge of it.

Jesse Potter had created that entire room that they'd been in. It was like a massive training simulation room, like being inside one of Dudley's shooter games. What had Dudley called them? "FPS MMORPG's, idiot. But you wouldn't understand." No, Dudley, he didn't understand, and neither did he really care. Maybe being a wizard fucked Harry up even more than years of abuse, because he didn't honestly care about not being able to play on Dudley's computer, or whinge over not having the hottest new cellphone on the market.

If only the Dursley's knew how rich Harry's family had been... they'd probably open up a hell of a lot more to wizards if it meant money they could siphon from their rich nephew. And how did they get that money? Harry knew so little about his family, it was absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention thanks to Harry, his family was dead, and Sirius was dead as well so who was left to tell Harry about the people he'd lost or never known?

Well, maybe Jesse Potter knew, but the man hated Harry and that much was clear. What Harry ever did to deserve it, he didn't know. Harry didn't even know _how_ he was related to Jesse, but if he had family he didn't know about, why would Dumbledore keep insisting he go back to the Dursley's summer after summer?

There he went, brooding again. He sighed. He had no solace, not in his own mind. He was harder on himself than probably any other student in all of Hogwarts, but then did _they_ have a psychopathic pedophile (Look, I can touch a fourteen year old!) casting cruciatus on them in dark graveyards after killing another young, promising wizard?

The world was expecting great things of Harry. Bloody hell, he was a celebrity before he was a year old for something far beyond his control. And everyone wanted Harry, barely sixteen years old, to rescue them like he was a white prince and the world was his damsel. He lifted his hands into his vision, opening his eyes to look at the long fingers. What did they expect him to do, when he couldn't even stop two people from destroying each other?

That was what had happened. It would have been the next thing he dreamt of had he not woken up. Professor Tetsuya was furious that Draco Malfoy and Kagome had been late to class, so without due posturing, he sent the two students into Jesse Potter's giant simulation chamber. Three giant metal spheres became viewing orbs sort of like watching a television, floating high up in the chamber so that while they couldn't instantly see the three in the labyrinth with their own eyes, they could watch them on the viewing orbs like as if it was some sick television show.

They watched as Professor Llywellyn cast some kind of magic on himself, making him look like Kagome. He then went and attacked Malfoy, pissing the blond off clearly. So many students were furious at the betrayal, they were shouting all their objections. They watched Professor Llywellyn change himself into Malfoy next, and attack Kagome, then run off leading her into where Malfoy – the real one – was.

In less than ten minutes, they watched their Professor deteriorate an already strained acquaintance with two small actions. That was when Professor Tetsuya grabbed Malfoy's little sister (Parkinson really didn't even try to put up a fight, did she?) and told her to go find her brother.

Then at one point when Kagome was by herself trying to recover from a spell Malfoy had cast on her eyes, their professor grabbed hold of Kagome in his own form, and pressed her against a wall. His hand wrapped around her wrist, and he pressed the button on Kagome's bracer. They were watching the whole labyrinth shake, and on the screens they saw the ground falling out from under each person's feet. Only the heartless didn't fear for Shiva. She was just a little girl!

Malfoy saved his little sister with amazing Gryffindor courage, and yet... failed to get himself and her out of a dire situation. They were stuck on a ladder, dangling. Harry had seen Malfoy favoring the arm holding them on the ladder too. The two would drop to their death. Harry hadn't thought twice. He didn't even consider the fact that it was a magical simulation environment, so there was probably some sort of safeguard in place.

Had he mentioned lately that he didn't apparently have a lot of intelligence or common sense? He'd ran out there, got a nice running leap, and caught on a ladder. By the time he'd arrived to where Shiva's shrieks were, Malfoy and Kagome were crumpled heaps on the ground and Shiva was screaming and shaking her brother. A minute later, Harry was back among the class as if he'd been teleported out, and given two Sundays worth detention to be served in Professor Tetsuya's room for interrupting the simulation. Kagome and Malfoy were teleported out on gurneys which they both woke up on. Malfoy's little sister was hysterical next to her brother, sniffling and bawling and telling him she wanted him to wake up. It was rather touching and heart wrenching.

Movement in the pool brought Harry back to earth. He looked around, startled that anyone else would be up at the ungodly hour. Even the birds weren't awake at least as far as he knew. Of course he hadn't exactly gone outside or opened a window to check...

When he saw who it was, he turned beet red and felt horrified embarrassment flood his entire being...

…

There she bloody well sat. Yes, she, and Harry's brain seriously was having an apoplexy right now. First and foremost he noticed her nudity. Thanks to all the suds in there, the bubbles kept anything important hidden away but that did not stop him from having two things: a staring contest with all that intense cleavage and shoulder flesh showing, and a growing problem under the surface of that bubbly water.

The situation was only worsened when he heard her laugh a bit, and watched that skin heave with her amusement. He followed the chest up to her face and his bloody teenage hormones kicked on overdrive when he saw who it was. It wasn't that he saw who she was and then noticed the fact that she was naked in the pool. No, it was the other way around. He saw her naked, then who she was, and the idea of _her_ being _naked_ was a huge turn-on.

Oh for the love of any and all gods out there... He had a seriously fucked up problem. He already knew he was pretty messed up, but... When delicious looking, absolutely flawless milky skin was right there across the pool to tempt a bloke, and blond curls were held up in a bun leaving the smooth neck open to the assault of the air (could he touch it?), and gorgeous green eyes looked him over with humor...

"Fancy meeting you here, Harry," the way she said his name... Damn all to hell, his raging teen hormones had him wanting to just... go right up and snog her! But wait...

"M-Melody? Y-you're not a... a prefect..." Way to stammer, Harry-boy. _Brilliant_. And for some reason, it took him that long to figure out that a girl was in the bath naked with a boy. Of course, he'd already registered that much, but that hadn't sunk in. "You're a girl!" he said wisely.

She laughed and his eyes were drawn again to the swell of her cleavage in the bubbles. "How good of you to notice."

"How did you get in here? Isn't this... the boys' prefects..." he trailed off when she just stared at him looking humored.

Deigning to give him an answer, the Slytherin laughed again. "Yes, Harry, it's the boys' prefect bathroom. But all you need to get in is the password. Apart from that, I was here before you, _and_ you didn't lock the bathroom door. The deadbolt ensures people can't use the password to enter."

Harry's eyes cast a glance at the door. It was locked now. She must have done so. He saw her stuff on a bench opposite his. He hadn't even noticed her. She must have just entered right before him, set her things down, and waited for him so she could ambush him! He wouldn't put it past her. She was Slytherin after all... But how did she know he would have terrible dreams and wake up early? She must have cast a spell on him to ensure he'd do so, and then wake up early and Colin be in the Gryffindor bathroom – oh, Merlin, this was getting to be ridiculous. Harry was way too suspicious. It was all chalked up to coincidence.

Wand left over by his bag of clothes, Harry determined this was rather unfortunate but he'd have to wait it out. Red-faced with embarrassment, he tried to sink lower in the water. "Oh... great..." She seemed quite comfortable in the bath with a boy there! How many other helpless men did she ambush in the prefect baths? He wasn't sure what was worse: Colin and his camera, or this sneaky Slytherin and her unknown evil plotting.

After a stretch of silence, Harry couldn't take it. He broke the silence, trying to fill up the awkward void in which he stared at her visible skin as she relaxed on one of the giant pool's side seats. The bathroom was equipped to handle two dozen people at a time, and he couldn't get over the fact that there was a second person in there. He knew the fact that she was a girl changed everything, because he'd showered plenty in Gryffindor tower with various boys present.

"So, uh, how are you this morning?" Harry asked her awkwardly.

She looked up from where she sat running sponges of water over her shoulders. "Hmm?" she murmured. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine. How was Quidditch practice last night?"

Harry blinked a dozen times. "How did you know we had practice?"

"I'm the Overseer of the School Newspaper Club." she explained. "I make it my business to know."

"Overseer?" Harry gulped. School newspaper club. He didn't even know Hogwarts had one! And he was in the bath with the very woman in charge of it. He could see the headlines now: **Harry Potter – Degenerate or Deviant? **_Harry Potter Uses Quidditch Captain Status to Peep on Girls in Bath. _

"It means Chief Executive Officer." she explained.

He'd guessed that. But now more than ever he wished he could wash himself down the drain, even if it meant he'd end up down by the rotting carcass of the Basilisk. If there was a snake on the drain, maybe that meant he could open it up! Wouldn't Salazar want more than one entrance to his creepy underground place? "That's... fantastic..."

"Speaking of news, you've always been at the forefront, haven't you?" she laughed as he tried to disappear. This was incredibly awkward. Harry barely snogged a girl once, and even then she was sobbing and crying over Cedric (rest his soul, no disrespect to the dead, of course). "Oh relax, I'm not Rita Skeeter, here to do an article on you. As my mother once told my father, what happens in the bath, stays in the bath."

Harry wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not. He also wasn't sure whether to be disturbed by her mother's words to her father or just drop it and not dwell. "So, uh, close to your family then?" Why was he still looking? He finally realized he could turn his back to her and that would solve the problem of staring so hard. But that would involve turning his back on a back-stabbing Slytherin. So... better not to take chances...

"Close as I can be without strangling daddy." she said sincerely. His eyes almost fell out, they opened so wide. Her smile only grew. "What? Daddy can be frustrating even for me."

"Oh, uhhh, so – uhm..." Brave Gryffindor is brave.

"Aren't you going to wash yourself?" She asked.

He flushed and hastily dipped his head under the water. He swiped at his hair a few times before surfacing. "Yeah, cleaning, hah..." he said, red as Ron's hair.

"Oh, no no... that won't do at all." she said, swimming toward him and oh gods, Harry squeezed his eyes shut. He had seen a nipple. This was certainly not how he planned to see his first nipple. Not that he planned to see a nipple, no, he just, didn't plan this. Had this been one of Dudley's anime shows he would have been K.O.'d from a nosebleed when he felt her lathering shampoo in his messy wet hair. Why on earth was he thinking of Dudley's anime shows at a time like this? He peeked open an eye, finding her sitting on the seat next to him now. She was so close, and they were both so naked, and he still didn't have a satisfactory explanation as to why they were in the same room at the same time...

"Why are you here?" he squeaked out, hands covering himself under water. Gods, but he had a problem under the water.

"Hm? Oh you're still on about that? Well, if you must know, Drake gave me the password ages ago and sometimes its nice to bathe in a place where I don't have to worry about getting hexed in the bath." She said.

"Hexed in the bath?" he asked, concerned. "Who is hexing such a pretty girl in the bath?" he asked and then amended – aloud, like an idiot, "Oh, wait, you're a Slytherin, never mind."

She actually laughed at that, and he blushed. "That's why I like you, Harry. You're honest."

Seriously having difficulty breathing with a gorgeous (and very naked!) girl washing his hair. Honestly, what was the point to this! What was her angle? Pretty (naked) girl next to him, running soapy, sudsy hands through his hair and – he sniffed. "What's this soap?"

"It's mine; strawberry-pomegranate passion." Oh gods, he was going to smell like a fruitcake all day! And wait, did she say she 'liked' him? What did she mean by that? Did she 'like' him or just 'like' him? Not that he wanted a Slytherin to 'like' him or even 'like' him! She may as well be Draco Malfoy himself for all he liked her... oh who was he kidding? A girl like her? (He was staring again...) Anyone would be attracted. Maybe she was a veela! Yeah! Then he couldn't be _blamed_ for being attracted.

"Are you a Veela?" he asked, and then cursed his loose tongue. Why would he ask that? She could easily lie. That was what Slytherins did. They lied every day. They were _made_ of lies. Then again, anyone stuck in the bath with a naked girl for fear of revealing everything they were made of would ramble out questions they ought not have mentioned.

She laughed. He decided he liked her laugh. Then he decided he wasn't allowed to like her laugh, so told himself that he didn't. (He wasn't sure he got through to himself...) "A Veela, hm? You think I'm a Veela? I'm not sure whether to find that cute or not. No, I'm all human."

"S-sorry..." Harry mumbled, flustered. Much as he loved Ron... why couldn't this have happened to Ron instead of him? No, wait, that would mean Ron was naked with Melody and – he was not going to think there. That thought did not make him feel any jealousy.

"It's alright, Harry. It's just that I wouldn't _want_ to be a Veela."

He was surprised. Ever since fourth year and the beautiful Fleur Delacour had come, girls all over the place had been fantasizing about how they wished they had a drop of Veela blood in their lineage. And yet, here was one girl who claimed she didn't want to be one. "Why not? They're very pretty." He turned bright red again and hurriedly stammered, "Not that you're not pretty, I mean, you're very pretty, beautiful in fact, more than beautiful," she laughed again, rinsing the soap from her hands in the water and placing one wet finger to his lips to silence him. He gulped. She was closer than ever.

"It's fine, Harry..." she assured him, her green eyes dancing with amusement. Oh of course the Slytherin would have a laugh at him. "I wouldn't enjoy being a nymph, and I don't think I'd look good breathing fire. Although the idea of a Veela has me completely perplexed; the idea that spirits of frivolous women floating between here and the afterlife can have children just doesn't make sense to me."

"So if they're...spirits of women...?"

"Mm, yes, although it's not something I tend to dwell on. I simply don't get it. Although I imagine the spirit of the woman, for whatever reason she did not rest, must be able to take corporeal form and mate with men. Still, there's no indication that they could ever have male children so the pure-Veela..." she trailed off and laughed. "Now you've got me dwelling on it. Turn your back toward me and lean back in the water."

He gulped. Turn his back toward her?

She must have sensed his hesitation because she said, "Honey, if I was going to murder you in the bath, I would have done so by now."

Feeling guilty, and perhaps a little bit ashamed (surely people so beautiful weren't evil? Oh gods how biased was that?), he turned on the underwater seat, cringing as he felt her hand on his shoulder. It took him a moment to force himself to relax, but that was a very long moment as he couldn't understand why all of this was occurring.

Life was so fucked up.

Finally he forced himself to lean back, but it was quite awkward as one hand cupped his stuff to keep it hid, and the other gripped the edge of the pool with white knuckled hands. Her hands threaded through his hair like a damn sensual massage (which he did certainly _not_ enjoy the way her fingers kneaded his scalp...) and washed away the soap.

When he was released at last, he sat up hastily and automatically raised his hand to mess his hair up. He couldn't help but grumble, "I smell like a girl..."

She grinned at him as he turned around. She was holding up a bottle that said, 'Conditioner.'

"Oh hell no! What're you trying to do to me?"

"Don't you enjoy being bathed by a girl? Because if you'd prefer I were a boy, I can leave..." she trailed off.

Harry winced. "No, no, no! It's fine, I just..." needed to be swallowed by the earth? Wanted to reach out and pull her against him, kissing her with every ounce of his Gryffindor passion? Why did that sound so wrong in his head?

"Alright then, stop acting like a coward and let me finish washing your hair." She said easily, as if she had a right to call Harry James Potter a coward! With determination exuding from his very pores (and somehow even _that_ sounded perverted when thought of in the bathroom with a naked girl present), he let her at his head. Oh god. Brain malfunction.

As she went to work doing what she would clearly do with or without his permission, he tried to focus on other things. When thinking of other things didn't work, he decided to turn to light conversation. "So, uh, Melody-"

"Call me Chavi." she interrupted.

"...Right... So... uh, Chavi... How come I uh, never noticed you?"

"Mm, because Harry Potter is ever-so-observant." she teased him, or at least, he was sure he was being teased. He hoped he was being teased because he simply didn't have the energy to be offended after all the blushing he was being forced to do. "Don't worry, I haven't been under an invisible cloak, I just don't go off antagonizing every Gryffindor I see. With as many people in Hogwarts as there are, it would be quite impressive if you knew everyone."

"So, uh, why don't you go off? Antagonizing people, I mean..."

"Do you honestly believe that's what a girl like me considers a fun time?"

"Uhm... maybe?" he blushed. Her eyes rolled and she flicked his ear with a soapy finger. He winced and rubbed it, looking at her warily. This had to be by far the oddest encounter he'd had with a girl in his short life.

"Don't be so dense. For me, a fun time is going to the muggle shopping centers. What about you, Harry? What relaxes you? And don't try rinsing that out. It needs to set for a moment." Was blushing all he would do today?

Oh merciful gods or goddesses or anyone divine enough to grant mercy! She arched her back, revealing breasts as she leaned back, pulling out the hair pins to wet her hair. For the sake of decency and propriety he obviously looked away – in another dimension, maybe. In this one, he was staring full-on, and he had a huge problem. His body was reacting. But then her breasts were again concealed under the bubbly water and he was only left with a problem.

"Are you going to answer my question?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah... what was it again?" God, what an idiot he was. He needed to pay attention to more breasts and less, no wait, less breasts and more talk!

"I asked what you do for fun." she sighed.

"Oh, uh, yeah I have fun... I read Quidditch Through the Ages. Oh, and I get a walloping from Ron at Chess a lot." He was focusing as hard as he could on the tap on his right instead of the girl on his left.

"I should have guessed," she mused. "So basically your friend is better at tactics and strategy, and your fun passion"-the word passion had him trying again to sink into the water-"is a game where you ride broomsticks and play with balls." She sighed dramatically.

His face was so hot he was surprised he wasn't boiling the water. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds much worse..."

"Oh?"

"I like girls, really..." She burst out laughing at that and that time he did sink into the water, slouching over to try to hide his face. "What? I do..."

"Sorry, I just find it quite amusing that you thought I was implying," he cut her off before she could finish.

"No, I didn't think that, I was... I was just..."

"Being very Gryffindor?"

"Yes!" He agreed automatically. Scarlet as his house colors, he turned the subject hastily. "So, do you like the new D.A.D.A. professors?"

She shrugged. "My opinion doesn't matter. They're our professors, charged with the job of teaching us. Considering what the senile headmaster has put us all through with Defense professors, it's surprising he's even bothered to have a talk to them about student safety considering all the times he's put us at risk with failures for professors." Fur ruffled for the sake of Remus Lupin, Harry opened his mouth to object only to let out a squeak when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you. It's time to rinse out the conditioner." She was either too convincing, or he just didn't know how to object.

"Besides," she continued as she made him tilt his head back and began massaging his scalp, cupping water to rinse his hair. "I highly doubt anything these three can do will be any worse than that fraud Lockhart."

"Didn't like him?" Harry was impressed (and perhaps relaxing and enjoying this head massage thing too much). Most of the girls in Gryffindor were madly in love with Lockhart, at least until he was revealed to be a fraud. Some were still in love with him after, even, refusing to believe Lockhart was anything except perfect. A load of hogswallow, of course, but what could Harry do? Girls liked older men, apparently.

"Who, Lockhart? Hah, as if. That man had violated more protocols and students than any other professor in the history of Hogwarts. Three Slytherin girls at least ended up pregnant, and one of them is a friend of mine who told me that Lockhart threatened to fail her if she didn't put out."

"Yeah, but Slytherins lie...I mean," he trailed off when she glared down at him with an annoyed look. "Well, maybe not all, but he was bad, but did he really," he stammered uncertainly and then hastily retreated into safer waters with a change in subject. "What do you mean three D.A.D.A. professors? We've only got the two... unless Slytherins get special privileges..."

She flicked his forehead. "Don't make me drown you," she chastised him playfully, or at least he really really hoped that was her being playful. Resuming her massaging of his scalp, she continued, "Three of them because Professor Nells is one of them."

"Professor Nells?" Who the hell was that?

"Illyes Llywellyn? You know, the odd wood elf masquerading around with a flirtatious eye forever stamped to Professor Tetsuya's arse and threatening to throw children off of labyrinth walls?" she explained. "He said to call him Nells. And as odd as it is, I kind of like the crazy dodger."

"Oh him... He's nutters. How can you like him?"

He saw her eyes were sparkling with mischief as she looked down at him. "Perhaps I'm just a bit crack-nobbed myself. After all, I'm bathing with a Gryffindor."

Scarlet. The new "in" color. Again. New subject! His voice was a bit pitched again. "What kind of... of defense is a class on etiquette?"

"You didn't do the assignment did you?" Guilt flooded him. Luckily he didn't have to respond. "We're being taught the Japanese way of magic; sort of like we're about to be super culture-shocked into something we're not used to. That's why there's three defense professors. He showed us that Roemaru's diagram, remember?"

"Uhh, vaguely?"

"Well, let me try to break things down for you as I understand it, because _**I**_ did my homework." Again, chastised. He'd do the damn homework today. It was like Hermione polyjuiced or something... "In Japan, there are three kinds of defense. Two mental defenses, and a physical defense. The physical defense is your Stamina, which is what Professor Tetsuya is to teach us. The ability to sharpen our senses and use ourselves and our environment in self-preservation. I'm hazarding a guess that there will be hand-to-hand combat, and potentially learning to utilize those weapons which were on the racks around the platform."

"Yeah, pretty sure I got that much from him and Jesse Potter. He's buggered too, taking a little girl and sending her into danger." Harry groused irritably as he recalled it.

"And you're a hot-head, running in there to save the little girl and someone you don't even particularly like." She countered.

"Well, I wasn't going to leave her to get killed just 'cause me and Malfoy have a thing-"

"Oh, you two have a 'thing' now do you?" she smirked and he rued the day he learned to talk.

"I mean, how he's a dick and I'm – oh never mind." he mumbled, decidedly staring at the ceiling instead of her face as she ran her hands through his hair.

"Anyway, if you're quite done embarrassing yourself?" Yes please, dear gods... "The Japanese mental defenses split into two: Vitality and Spirit. The Spirit is your magical defense, but that gets also split into seven different types of magic which is what Professor Sevina is teaching us. Your slow brain frying over this yet?" she wondered.

"I'm alright, I think..." Should he feel offended?

"Good. Vitality defense is... well, not entirely just a mental defense, more its a frame of mind. Professor Nells is to teach us the art of defense through deception." That was like a rock in the pit of Harry's gut. Someone was going to _teach_ the Slytherins to lie, cheat, and cause havoc? He was going to have to keep serious watch on them now, dog their every step. "Things like body language, tone of voice, even your eyes alone will convey plenty of what you feel; he's going to teach you to deceive."

"Teach me, not you?" he brought his eyes back on her face.

Her lip quirked in a wry smile. "I'm a Slytherin, and my daddy's a Slytherin, so I'm hoping there's nothing new for me to learn in it."

"Just your dad was a Slytherin?" he asked, then said hurriedly, "Not that I'm trying to pry!" Yes, yes he was damn it, she was one to watch out for.

"Of course you're trying to pry," damn, busted! "It's in your nature, Harry. You can't help but be suspicious of me and my motives. But don't worry, I won't avoid the question. No, my mother was a Ravenclaw when she went to Hogwarts. Still a pureblood, of course." Her eyes twinkled and he snorted. "And you should be suspicious of me. I'm always going on shopping sprees with daddy's money. Although he probably wouldn't like to know he bought me a black lace bustier and matching black thong and stockings with sexy six inch heels. Alright, sit up, I'll wet my hair again and you can shampoo it." he wasn't certain he was going to make it through to the end of the bath.

Make it through the bath he did. He slumped down at the breakfast table between Ron and Ginny, hardly noticing that Hermione had her nose crammed so far against the pages of a book it was a surprise she was able to read anything. Come to think of it, she'd been absent since yesterday before lunch. He wasn't even sure he remembered her showing up to Defense class with Professor Tetsuya at all.

Still, Harry was ridiculously embarrassed as he sat down to breakfast with the others. He could still feel her hands running through his hair, and her hair and scalp beneath the pads of his fingers. Chaviah had left the bathroom first, but not before he got a fantastic view of her backside that would be fuel for his fantasies for months as she pulled herself out of the bath and walked toward the bench where her stuff lay. He hadn't been able to pry his eyes away. She'd wrapped a towel around her body and then buttoned her school robes properly to hide her nakedness beneath. The next thing he knew, she was headed to the door and gone and he'd found himself with raging hormones and a problem that needed to be taken care of immediately.

Now he was at breakfast with everyone and making an attempt at acting like there was nothing wrong... like he hadn't just taken a bath with the most beautiful girl in the whole school... Did he really just think that about Chaviah? No, not Chaviah! She may have given him permission to use her first name, but he was going to use her surname. She was just Melody... but even that was beautiful and he found his eyes roaming across the room to the Slytherin table.

She was sandwiched between Zabini and Malfoy, a rosy hue to her cheeks and her blouse almost popping at the buttons. Her blond hair was pinned away from her face but spilling over her shoulders in waves of curls. He found himself thinking about touching her hair again, and seeing her smiling at him again.

When a hand passed in front of his face, he jolted back to reality. "Huh?"

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked sleepily, but not without concern. "You're lookin' pretty worn out."

"Oh," Harry turned to the food and began selecting a few items to eat for breakfast. "Just sorta tired; long week, and I didn't really feel like showering in Gryffindor Tower, so I went to the Prefect Bathroom."

"I don't blame ya," Ron said stuffing his mouth full of food. "Neber know when Creebey migh' show up. Af'er hearin' dat," he swallowed the mass of food, "he's going 'round takin' pictures and sellin' them, I'm planning to never again shower in Gryffindor Tower. I'll walk to the Prefect Bath thanks."

"Yea, that's my plan too," Harry said. He thought about warning Ron about Melody's use of the bathroom but changed his mind. Ron was his best friend, but at the same time... he couldn't bring himself to admitting he was just in the bath with a girl. Besides, he didn't want to provoke Melody into defending her chastity or dignity if word got around that he was talking about bathing with her.

After breakfast finished up, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were approached by a familiar group of Slytherins. Malfoy (and his bouncy sister tagging along as ever), Melody, and Kagome. Kagome gave Harry a warm smile and then caught Hermione's eye. "Hi, Granger-san. Do you think we can get to work on our Potions work?"

Melody didn't so much as ask Ron as she crooked a finger at him to follow her and the red-head turned gloomy but got up to follow. Having little choice but to deal with Malfoy and his sister again, Harry waved goodbye to his friends at the Gryffindor table and went to—what felt like—his doom. First they headed up to Gryffindor tower so that Harry could collect his bag (he had to whisper the password really quietly so that Malfoy wasn't awarded a free pass to his home) and schoolwork. Then he followed Malfoy down to the third floor where the blond checked the hallway to be sure they hadn't been followed and no one was around before slipping behind a large, heavy tapestry.

"Coming, Potter?" He asked, moving behind the tapestry before disappearing.

Why wasn't Harry surprised there was even more hidden rooms stashed behind giant tapestries of Merlin and the ice dragon? Following Malfoy's lead, he found himself facing a hole in the wall that was three feet off the ground and he'd have to crawl through. Ugh, couldn't anything be normal, ever? What was wrong with door knobs? Or even sensors under a door mat that would open the door when stepped upon like they had at the mall?

He pulled himself through and looked around. Malfoy had taken him to a secret library.

"Have a seat; I've found books on fusion in here, so we should be able to do the homework quickly enough."

Harry was tense as he sat down, almost positive someone was going to jump out of nowhere to hex him. But once he felt the comfort of the plush couch, man he almost fell into an instant nap. "What is this place?" he couldn't help but display his curiosity—or Malfoy would probably call it ignorance...

"Salazar Slytherin's private library." Malfoy explained, pulling books off the shelf to bring them over and set on the coffee table. "All the founders had their own libraries where they did things they didn't want anyone else to know about. To my knowledge, the only founder's library that has been found is this one, the other three are still lost."

Wherever it was, Harry was sure the Marauder's Map didn't have this on it.

"Dee-Dee, look, I made a princess castle!" In the scant few minutes they'd been there, little Shiva had thrown a blanket over two arm chairs.

Harry looked smugly at Malfoy. "'Dee-Dee?'" he asked.

"Shove off," Malfoy growled lowly and shoved some books at Harry. "Good job, Shiva," he told the girl. "Start reading," he told Harry.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the long wait!


	31. Chapter 31 A to-do-list

Title: Voldemort's Daughter

Author: Tsubasa Kya

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this tom-foolery

**Warning: Mild adult references, foul language, some sexual content, and a comparison of Draco to Jesus. I'm making a concerted effort to get this story done. Plot is slow-moving... if you don't like that, I'm sorry. This particular monstrosity is currently having the characters as 6th year students at Hogwarts. The story itself spans to the end of 7th year (or later, if I feel like it) so the romance won't move any faster than is comfortable. Plus, in the manner of Draco and Kagome... they have a rather sordid past... 1 week after seeing each other for the first time in years is hardly the time to start snogging in the halls...  
**

**Thank you, and enjoy the read. Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement to keep writing. I hope that one or two of you are still reading, but I understand if you moved on. Most of all, for anyone still here, thank you for your patience.  
**

Chapter 31: Working On A To-Do-List (and Judas Sells Out for Sex)

It was time to do some homework that Hermione had convinced (for once) Harry not to do. In her defense, she couldn't possibly imagine that Ilyes Llewellyn really wanted them to destroy the book that had been needed for the class... Still, it did make sense that "Professor Nells" was not the most usual. In fact, Harry had even gone as far as writing up a to-do list of things he wanted to accomplish that Saturday. It felt like there were an overwhelming amount of things that he wanted to do and he had no idea how many he would get through. Hermione claimed he wasn't doing to-do lists properly, as he had so much on the list. She stated that a proper to-do list only had a few things on it because if it was overwhelmed it would seem like nothing was being accomplished.

But after the long first-week back at school, being paired up with Slytherins in every single class with the new house friendliness initiative, Harry was too tired to care about the proper way to do a to-do list. So, he just took a sheet of paper and overwhelmed it with things he needed to or wanted to accomplish. First up was the assignment from Professor Nells... And honestly, Harry didn't like to think of him as Professor Nells because of the way that Chavi had nearly moaned his name in the bath.

Okay, maybe it wasn't quite like that, but he didn't like thinking about it all the same. It was highly irrational that Harry would be quite so affected and jealous of the way some teacher's name came from a Slytherin girl's lips, but then when Harry thought about it... Harry was also at a stage of his life where he was constantly horny. It felt a lot like three things would set his blood boiling: if it walked, if it talked, and if it had breasts... And then again, one and two weren't likely even required to make his body react in all number of inappropriate ways.

Directions for homework:

1. Sign your full name (including middle name) on the inside cover of your textbook. By doing this you are agreeing to keep your trap shut on all and everything discussed and learned within this classroom.

Harry signed his name to the book: Harry James Potter. Then, because he felt like it, he wrote under that, "Son of James Potter and Lily Evans. Somehow related to Jesse Potter - father's brother, maybe? Or a cousin? Note to self - begin self-study of genealogy. See if Chavi" the instant he realized he wrote Chavi's name, he scratched it out until it was a black blob, "Hermione knows anything about genealogy." Of course then he thought about that, and he realized that as the Overseer of the Hogwarts newspaper club, Chavi probably had some pretty good hunting skills for that sort of thing, so he added, "Talk to Chavi about genealogy research."

2. After signing your full name on the inside cover, submerge the book in salt water.

Submerge the book in salt water... That wasn't too hard. All he had to do was take a jaunt on down to the kitchens and there he was with plenty of house-elves ready to serve him. It always felt awkward down here in the kitchens and he always felt anxious about being around house-elves. Dobby was certainly looking strange this year. Harry couldn't put his mind on what was different, though. Maybe it was that he was a full-foot-taller than any other house-elf... But Harry balked before he could get the salt so he ran out of there (with a bag of snacks some house-elves shoved in his hands) and didn't stop for several corridors.

When he finally stopped, he debated what to do. He needed salt water. So, his brilliant mind came up with a solution: the potions lab had plenty of extra ingredients. He just needed to get in there. That led to getting the invisibility cloak. He stuffed it under his robes and ran down to the dungeons, ducking into a niche to put the cloak on. The potions lab was empty - thankfully. But Harry should have known that the supply closet would have a more complicated lock on it.

Harry heard the doorknob jiggling and checked to make sure the cloak was fully in place. Kyle Marcus and Pansy Parkinson fell into the room, closing the door behind them. "Kyle, be quiet, will you? I don't want to get caught with you... Draco would be furious!" Parkinson said, her arms wrapping around Marcus's neck. Marcus had a ferocious grin on his face as he lifted her onto the desk closest to them. Harry felt a bit pale to realize that was his desk...

It was quick, and thoroughly embarrassing. Harry tried to stay low and cover his ears with his eyes closed. He saw Marcus's pasty white arse and heard the grunts though he tried to ignore what was going on. He couldn't exactly go anywhere without drawing attention to himself, although he did consider hexing the both of them and just making a break for it. Harry wondered why the two students would do something so public, so open, but then he thought about the dorms and how at least with Gryffindor tower, there wasn't much room for privacy. After that, his thoughts wandered to the girls he knew and what it would be like to... no, he wasn't letting his mind go there.

After the two students pulled apart, Marcus said, "You know your part of the deal, Pansy. If you back out on me, you'll regret it."

"I know... You can find Draco in the Astronomy tower tonight at ten... He'll be alone..."

The two left, and suddenly, Harry had a very bad feeling. Other than primal moans, not a lot was said except those few lines. Still, Harry felt like he'd just witnessed "Judas" sell out. And how ironic that it would refer to Draco as the role of Jesus... Harry might be too paranoid, but when one had their own antagonist, maybe paranoia was a good thing?

But that could be another thing to add to Harry's to-do list... "Save Jesus from the betrayal of Judas." He just had to be in the astronomy tower at 10, and if he wore the invisible cloak, he could observe discretely, and intervene only if he had to, or get a heads up if anything was wonky. For now, he had a mission here...

3. Hit the textbook with five stunning spells.

Getting the salt did not appear as cut-and-dry as he thought it would be. Snape's supply cabinet was not easy to get into. In fact, it resisted any theft at all. Eventually he gave up and went back to the house elves for the salt and dealt with the groveling as he soaked the book. In the hall, he hit the textbook with stunning spell after stunning spell which helped relieve some tension. He really didn't like it when house elves groveled. In addition to relieving tension, the soggy book when hit with a stunning spell caused sparks. Apparently stunning spells and salt water interacted in an interesting way.

4. Beat the textbook with your fist ten times.

More tension relieved from him when he worked on punching the textbook with his fist ten times. And hell, since he was by himself in a hall, he even decided to go kung-fu-movie on the book. "Always go above and beyond on your assignments," Hermione would say. Even the Hermione in his head was helpful! She would be proud of him for doing so well at his homework. For good measure, he even built up hits with a shouted, 'Waahh' and 'Hiyah' before doing so.

5. Kick the text book down fifteen stairs (book must hit all fifteen before coming to a stop).

Kicking the textbook down fifteen stairs and having it hit all of them was difficult. The soggy book did not want to be kicked down the stairs, and gravity wasn't playing along either. In the end, he sat and stared at the book, frustrated at it. Eventually he got an idea - the slinky! Or a rubber ball... he wondered if there was a spell to duplicate those. He researched it in the library and found a few promising spells but nothing was so promising as transfiguration. He transfigured the book into a ball, kicked it down the stairs, and it was just a matter of angle and spin to get it to hit every step properly. Getting it to stop at the bottom was harder still. He ended up standing on the bottom of the stair, and kicking the ball up the stair so it could bounce down the fifteen stairs and he would catch it. Transfiguring it back was the hard part.

6. Throw the text book twenty feet into a wall.

That wasn't hard. He stood twenty feet away and threw the textbook. The corner of the book bent and several pages tore as it landed.

6. Throw the textbook thirty feet into a wall.

The task on his list changed... so he had to recount his steps and throw it again. Whipping a book was not easy.

7. Stab the text book twenty five times with a sharp, pointy object.

Sharp, pointy objects weren't hard to find. He had one in his trunk which he used to cut up ingredients in potions class.

8. Write or doodle obscenities on thirty pages.

The inside of the book was still wet, so quills didn't write easily. Using his finger, he finger-painted on thirty pages. Fuck. Shit. Penis penis penis.

9. Rip out thirty five pages from the textbook and burn them.

He tore out the pages and put them in the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, one by one.

10. Bite textbook forty times.

Must be complete before class on Wednesday! I will break the wand of those who do not follow the above instructions. – Nells.

The textbook was salty and mushy and gritty all at once. It was pretty sickening to bite it.

However, when he completed his assignment, he marveled as it suddenly transformed from a mangled book into a new book titled, "Nell's Secrets to the Perfect Deception". Once he completed it, he had to go show Hermione.

"Hermione! Look, this is what that assignment does!" he showed her the book.

"It trashes your book? Very lovely, Harry. Some of us are taking classes seriously that need to be serious." She said, frowning in disapproval. Harry looked at the book. Didn't she see the new book? Apparently she just saw a trashy book on etiquette. He sighed. But then he saw she was doing the same to her book which was half-trashed in her bag. He pulled it out, looking to see where she was on her checklist.

"Hermione, how come you haven't finished?" He asked her. She plucked it out of his hands, blushing. She muttered something very low. Harry nearly missed it, but when he realized what she said, he grinned. "You can't think of obscene things? I can help with that."

After that, he crossed off 'destroy book' from his to-do list, added 'teach Hermione obscenities', and crossed that off as well. Just so he wouldn't forget, he added, 'Astronomy tower - Judas plot - 10 pm' to his to-do list. The to-do list thing was going well.

It was only three in the afternoon, so he went up to his dorm and (seeing no one in there) he propped a chair up on the door and rooted in Ron's things. He need something good. But he needed something that wasn't going to backfire also. In the very bottom, Harry found a lockbox which - once Harry got it open (it wasn't any harder than opening a cheap diary lock) - turned out to be Ron's stash of allowance and summer job earnings. Harry had known that Ron was testing out products for his brothers but didn't realize Ron had made so much money off of it. Ron had this box full and there was a second box just like it that was likely going to be just as full. If there was one thing Harry knew about his best friend, it was that money was more precious to Ron than even his wand. After growing up in a closet and as the "ungrateful" nephew of two selfish, greedy muggles, Harry understood this even if he didn't quite react like Ron.

Still, there was an assignment due from the highly esteemed Professor Nells that said to steal an item from your best friend and give it to your greatest enemy, right? Harry took a galleon from the box. He grinned, shut the box, and replaced everything in Ron's trunk the way it was. As wrong as this was... Harry felt a thrill at the theft.

However, thrill or not, Harry wasn't about to send something of Ron's straight to his antagonist with no thought about it. He didn't want this to come back and bite Ron or Harry in the ass later on, so Harry ran down to the library and asked Madam Pince if she knew of any books that would relate to cleaning any object - specifically metal - so that there was no chance of the object being used to cast curses on the previous owner.

"Mister Potter, am I to believe that a sixth year student is unaware of how to utilize the card catalog?" The hard woman demanded, her lips pursed and her eyes piercing straight to Harry's soul. It was like she knew he'd stolen something... but that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

"Uh, I guess?" He replied, feeling a bit like it was a dumb response. Thankfully she led him to the card catalog and showed him how to use it. He told it what he needed, and the shelf of wooden drawers would open up and slips of paper would fly out before rearranging in a single drawer in front of him. He couldn't believe he never knew about this. It would make so many things easier! He decided to find a selection of the books and checked them out of the library. Since it wasn't a project he wanted anyone to find him researching, he decided to find somewhere secret. Though the idea of the Room of Requirement being a safe, secret place was nice... the room was also revealed easily enough by Draco Malfoy and Umbridge in Harry's fifth year so he wasn't sure he could trust it.

He searched all over the castle, trying to find a place before ultimately deciding on an empty room in a hall that was layered in thick dust. He thought a few scourgify spells would do the trick and clean the room but it, in fact, caused the dust to become some kind of congealed substance in some places and kicked dust up in some other areas. Harry sneezed, sighed, and sneezed again. Apparently he needed more practice at "not sucking" at these spells.

He looked at the blood-red wood wand. His new wand from an unknown benefactor... He couldn't unlock doors and he couldn't get it to clean floors. Was he fighting with the wand? It hummed under his fingers.

"Hello again, Harry..." Harry turned and aimed his wand at the intruder. It turned out just to be Chaviah Melody. Hah, Harry would think that way? 'Just Chaviah'? He might as well just let the Slytherin girl take a knife and stab him in the heart while he was at it. Although he wouldn't mind undressing her first - not that he was thinking that!

"Er, hello..." He still didn't lower his wand.

"Yes, Harry, I'm stalking you. I'm secretly plotting your demise as we speak." Chaviah drawled as Harry eyed her up and down, and perhaps his eyes lingered on her legs and her chest a little too long. Her long blond hair was done in some sort of updo that turned the long locks into braided headbands around the top of her head. Harry thought it was cool, and cute on her, like she was wearing a crown on her head. Right after thinking that, he cursed himself for his juvenile thoughts. What was he, twelve?

"Well, you never can be too sure with you Slytherins..." Harry added. He hadn't seen her in the bath today and wasn't sure if that was something he liked or if he was upset about that. She seemed to have gone casual for their day off. Tight jeans with manufacturer-made holes in them covered her legs and a shirt with Harry's face plastered to it and 'My Hero' in text under Harry's head was on her chest. Harry thought at first that it was disturbing to see that someone had taken things to a new level and created a tee-shirt with his face on it. His next thought was, "I see you like my face on your chest." Whoops... he wasn't supposed to say that one aloud. Open mouth, insert foot.

But Chavi just grinned mercilessly. "It's not the same as the real thing... but I would love an autograph." She wore heels with the jeans, and Harry couldn't understand the fascination. It had to be painful...

Harry's face turned bright at the idea that she wanted him to sign her chest. He didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't answer it. "So, what are you doing here?" Was it even legal to have a picture of his face on her shirt? Shouldn't he get royalties for such a thing? Then again, the Slytherins were known to do crazy things like creating buttons that said Weasley is our King and dangling people upside down and killing them...

"I told you - I was stalking you. I saw you acting suspicious and skulking about in the hall so I decided to follow. What, I wondered, is the famous Harry Potter up to now?" she approached his discarded bag on a dusty table and pulled out a book. "Enchanted Manuscript of Resonant Hermetic Alchemy..." She pulled out another and read that title. "Monstrous Grimoire of Luminous Dark Thaumaturgy... Interesting reads, Harry... You know these are borderline Dark Arts, don't you? Of course you do, otherwise you'd read them in front of just anyone..."

Harry actually hadn't known they were... He had figured anything in the forbidden section was off-limits and anything in the all-access area was perfectly fine. Surely Madam Pince would have said something if there was something wrong with the book he chose... But he guessed not. It did make sense; the books and the contents of the books weren't what was bad. All spells could be used by bad or misguided people. The spells themselves weren't exclusively bad...

"Er, yeah... so, now you know. The great Harry Potter is the next dark lord, so go on and publish that in your newspaper and we can both get on with our lives, yeah?" Harry found himself feeling a little short tempered since he was cornered and embarrassed, not to mention caught with books that who-knew if he should have. Maybe Madam Pince wasn't paying attention when she checked them out... it could happen. Or maybe they really weren't all bad like Chavi was suggesting and the blond was fucking with Harry's head. It wouldn't be a surprise if she was.

With a flick of her wrist, the entire room of dust disappeared and she gave him a smile as she sat on the edge of the table beside his books. "Come on, Harry... in the spirit of house integration, can't you be a little less on edge around me? At the risk of sounding completely conceded, I'm better once you get to know me..."

"I'm sure of it," Harry was still on defense. It didn't matter what she said; he still felt she was out to get something from him, and he didn't know what, so he didn't want to trust her. Even if he was undressing her with his eyes, his mind supplied helpfully.

"Merlin's beard... you were far more relaxed in the bath. Would it help if I took my clothes off at this point?" She drawled, and Harry wondered if she expected him to do the honorable thing and say that wasn't necessary.

Did she count on the fact that he was a sixteen year old boy with hormones and a hefty curiosity for sex and all things related? Did she know that on top of considering the problems behind being the boy-who-lived, he also had an underlying mantra of 'Sex Sex Sex' going on in his head? He blamed her even more for that, too, because she was the one who molested him with shampoo in the bath the other day...

So, rather dishonorably, he said, "Yes, in fact, it would help." She gaped at him for a moment. She really had counted on him to be honorable, hadn't she? Served her right. Not to mention he rather liked the surprised look on her face. "Come on, then," Harry waved his hand. "You offered. Is whatever you're up to here worth it?"


End file.
